Contribution short abstract

Energy transitions in Kenya’s semi-arid drylands unfold amid water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and historical marginalization. This study shows how clean-energy adoption reshapes local energy-water-forest dynamics and argues for justice-centered, socio-ecological approaches.

Contribution long abstract

Across Africa's drylands, the idea of energy transition is often characterized by technological promises, such as solar parks, biogas systems, and water infrastructure. However, they remain entwined with past land marginalization and unequal resource distribution. Drawing on the insights from political ecology and environmental justice scholarship (Escobar 1996; Nightingale 2017), this paper explores how communities in Kenyan semi-arid landscapes navigate the challenges of energy poverty, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity within conservation frontiers. Although often excluded from classical definitions of “deserts,” Kenya’s semi-arid zones embody many of those characteristics: ecological fragility, scarce water resources, and narratives of emptiness that have justified both conservation and extraction. The paper repositions African drylands as socio-ecological spaces of innovation and contestation rather than ecological voids. It situates these geographies within the broader concept of desert imaginaries. Based on participatory spatial learning, household surveys, and GIS-based land-use analysis, it investigates how clean-energy interventions modify the local energy-water-forest nexus. The findings show that, while clean-energy adoption reduces fuelwood extraction and improves household well-being, its effectiveness is dependent on water availability, gendered labor, and institutional coordination among conservation and development actors. Energy infrastructures are thus more than mere artifacts; they are sites of negotiation for rights, knowledge, and ecological futures. The paper concludes that energy transitions in arid areas must be viewed as socio-ecological processes based on justice rather than efficiency by situating these local experiences within broader discussions of desert and dryland imaginaries. It therefore recommends a reimagined vision for dryland development.