Trade-offs for climate-resilient pastoral livelihoods in wildlife conservancies in the Maasai Mara, Kenya

Diversification into conservation and tourism is a strategy used by pastoralists in the wildlife-rich East African rangelands to supplement livestock-based livelihoods and spread risk. In the Maasai Mara, Kenya, wildlife... [ view full abstract ]

Diversification into conservation and tourism is a strategy used by pastoralists in the wildlife-rich East African rangelands to supplement livestock-based livelihoods and spread risk. In the Maasai Mara, Kenya, wildlife conservancies are a popular and growing approach to tourism where a number of conservancies have been set up on privately-owned land with the aim of offering tourism incomes to Maasai landowners and securing habitat for wildlife and tourism. Groups of Maasai landowners lease their land to tourism operators and receive monthly conservancy payments, for which in return they agree to certain land use and livestock grazing restrictions.
This research investigates the ability of conservancies to act as an alternative livelihood opportunity for pastoralists that mitigates risks and maintains resilience in a changing climate. The research analyses data collected from a household questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and long-term livestock trend data, to examine how conservancies contribute and integrate with pastoral livelihoods and grazing strategies. The research finds that conservancy payments provide an important, reliable all-year round source of income and prevent households from selling their animals during stress, and for cash needs. Conservancies also retain grass banks during the dry season, thus offering opportunities for pastoralists to access good-quality forage. However, conservancies also reduce access to large areas of former grazing land and impose restrictions on livestock mobility, and conflicts between livestock and tourism can intensify during drought times. Income from conservancy payments is also not more than the contribution of livestock, meaning that conservancies create trade-offs for livestock-based livelihoods. Also, since income is based on land ownership there are inequity implications as women and other marginalised groups are left out.