Ewaso Water Project: Water, Savannas and Society in Kenya's Pastoral Regions
The productivity of savannas in semi-arid regions of the world and their ability to support wildlife and herds of pastoral livestock ultimately depends on water. Rainfall produces vegetation and provides drinking sites that disperse the impact of grazing. Unfortunately, rainfall is unpredictable, becoming more so in the face of climate change. Such uncertainty often leads to increases in livestock herd sizes by the pastoralists of the Ewaso ecosystem of Kenya as they try to cope with the resulting income fluctuations. A 'tragedy of the commons' often develops which, in turn, leads to habitat degradation. This Development Grand Challenges research and teaching project integrates the talents of hydrologists, ecologists and political scientists to determine the linkages and feedbacks that connect water to vegetation production, to wildlife and animal movements, and to the economic and health of the pastoral peoples that share the landscape with wildlife. By understanding the rules that pastoralists use to balance cooperative and competitive tensions that shape land use patterns and coupling this with an understanding of water and vegetation dynamics that that shape wildlife needs and habitat use, we hope to foster better conservation practices while enhancing sustainable economic development of the pastoral peoples.
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