Samburu male youth’s visions for future

Land fragmentation, human population growth, climate change and modernisation create challenges for pastoral livelihoods worldwide. These changes oblige many young pastoralists to make new types of decisions about their future. In the study “Paired comparison of visions for the future among young pastoralists and students in Samburu, Kenya” by Brett Bruyere et al, published in Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice (2018) 8:21, a comparison was made of preferences for the future by young male pastoralists who practise herding as their primary livelihood, and their male peers who attend secondary school instead of herding. Participants were presented with all possible pairings of 15 options that represented a mix of traditional and contemporary livelihoods and traditions, and asked to select their preference between each pairing. Results were tabulated to elicit a ranked preference list of 1 to 15 and indicate that both herders and students strongly favour education for their future children and want to work for community conservancies. In other aspects, however, student and herders differed significantly. Students generally rated non-pastoral options highest, and their ratings had a high level of within-group agreement. In contrast, herders were more mixed about options for their future, with both pastoral and non-pastoral options receiving a diversity of ratings from very high to very low. These conclusions raise questions about the future of pastoralism in Samburu, and the identity and cultural roles of young male herders.

Posted on 10 August 2018 in Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition