SLU news

Seminar on pastoralist land rights

Published: 24 September 2021
Dromedaries in Turkana, Kenya.

Per Knutsson, one of the Dryland Transform researchers will on the 6th of October have a webinar on the topic "Commoning or Commodification? Pastoralist Land Rights in the Face of Political, Economic and Institutional Change in Northern Kenya".

For at least a decade, the drylands of northern Kenya have been subject to a changing political economy with transformative implications for pastoralist livelihoods. Historically portrayed as remote, unused and unproductive land, drylands are increasingly becoming the focal point for capital investment and state expansion.

This webinar is hosted by LARRI, the Land Rights Research Initiative, which is a platform for discussion, exchange of ideas and information as well as for promoting collaboration among researchers, students and others interested in land rights issues in the context of global change.

At this LARRI webinar, Per Knutsson will focus on three important and concurrent forces of change that are taking place across pastoralist Kenya and how they create new, complex and contested conditions for pastoralist land rights: (1) Devolution of national government power and financial resources; (2) land investment and appropriation in the wake of the large-scale infrastructure projects; and (3) the introduction of the Kenya Community Land Act. How should we understand these emerging land rights dynamics and what are their implications for dryland governance in East Africa?

Land rights and dryland governance are important aspects in the SLU-led Drylands Transform project, where Per Knutsson is leading that work.

Interested in attending? Register to: lassekrantz15@gmail.com

Facts:

Logotype for the project Drylands Transform

Drylands Transform

Drylands Transform is a 4-year research project funded by Formas that started up during the Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020. It includes an interdisciplinary research team representing SLU and seven other universities and international organisations from Sweden, Kenya and Uganda. 

Visit the website for Drylands Transform.