toralism is concentrated on 3% of the
total land area, mainly in the highlands of
Mt. Marsabit, the Hurri Hills and Mt. Kulal.Over the years, natural resources in these
areas have been subjected to increasing
pressure. due to a variety of factors. Of
primary importance has been the privati-
sation of some land, traditionally held in
common, for crop production activities.
This has affected even marginal areas not
suited for agriculture. Government policies
have consistently favoured crop produc-
tion at the expense of pastoralism, and
state and development agents have pro-
moted site-focused planning and the
sedentarisation of mobile communities.
The pastoral mobility routes have also
been disrupted by the establishment of
protected areas, such as the Sibiloi
National Park and Marsabit National Park,
where herding is not allowed. This has led
to a major loss of dry season grazing
areas for the Gabbra. Compounding this,
there has been a significant increase in
human population. The Gabbra population
in Kenya numbered 11,000 in 1969.
Presently, according to the 1999 census, it
amounts to over 45,000 people.Despite the above, about 40% of the land
in Marsabit can still be described as under
utilised, mostly because of un-even distri-
bution of water points
but also, at times,
because of inter tribal
disputes. As a whole, the
district is characterised
by recurrent drought,
famine, endemic insecuri-
ty, and poor infrastruc-
ture and social services.
To use a modern label,
most of the local people
are “abjectly poor”. As a
matter of fact, there is
livelihood anxiety among
the local communitiesand the Gabbra have been increasingly
dependent on relief aid, which is available
in the form of food relief or food for work
initiatives run by the Kenyan government
and the World Food Programme. Since
1972-73 different types of food aid have
been provided to the Gabbra on a more or
less regular basis. The situation became
particularly critical in the mid 80s, when
relief aid was provided for most of the
year. The year 1984 is still remembered as
Olla Dima Suga(the drought of yellow
maize). Overall, the Kenyan Food Security
Committee consistently ranks Marsabit as
the second most vulnerable district in the
country, after Turkana. The district is also
ranked as one of the poorest in the coun-
try.The Gabbra live in an area about the size
of Switzerland (40, 000 km sq.),^1 which
covers part of Northern Kenya (Marsabit
district) and parts of southern Ethiopia—
one of the harshest dryland environments
on earth. People, livestock and wild ani-
mals are adapted to conditions of extreme
heat and aridity. Their livelihood depends
on a few strategic characteristics, which
are interdependent, regulated by tradition-
al management practices and stood their
ground for centuries if not millennia.
Among those, the following are crucial: 1.
mobility; 2. diversity of raised livestock
species and 3. a well-functioning and
socially respected management system.
Mobility enables the Gabbra to utilise the
limited and spatially located range
resources as efficiently as possible. The
diversity of livestock species, such as
camels and goats (browsers), and sheep
and cattle (grazers) allows them to exploit
different niches in the environment and
ensures them a supply of milk, meat,
blood, hides, skins and means of trans-
portation (camels and donkeys) under dif-
ficult and changing situations. A well-func-
tioning and socially respected manage-
ment system allows the Gabbra to main-History, cculture aand cconservation
Government ppolicies
have cconsistently
favoured ccrop ppro-
duction aat tthe
expense oof ppastoral-
ism, aand sstate aand
development aagents
have ppromoted ssite
focused pplanning
and tthe ssedentarisa-
tion oof mmobile ccom-
munities