Building on Customary Institutions for Effective Rangeland Governance in Northern Kenya

Pastoral livelihoods in northern Kenya depend on governance systems capable of managing highly variable grazing and water resources across seasons. Although policy reforms have sought to strengthen community participation and natural resource governance, they have often done so by creating new institutions alongside existing customary governance systems rather than building on them (Table 1). Empirical evidence from Marsabit County shows that strengthening rangeland governance requires recognising and building on these existing customary institutions rather than creating parallel structures.