dc.description.abstract | This study examined natural resource conflict using the case of the Meru and the Borana
communities in Isiolo County between 2008 and 2019. The project paper set out to establish
the main causes of the violent conflict, the relationship between the conflict and natural
resources in the county, and the impact of the conflict on the two communities. The research
was guided by three hypotheses: the first hypothesis was that lack of equity in access to
management of resources was the cause of conflict; the second one was that scarcity of land,
water and pasture was another source of the inter-communal conflict; and the last one was
that deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihoods were the major impact of the conflict.
The study was framed within the environmental scarcity framework of Thomas Homer-
Dixon. Research data was derived from both primary and secondary sources. The primary
respondents, mainly drawn from the affected communities in Isiolo County, were interviewed
orally using a question guide. The secondary data was sourced from books and journals
obtained from both online databases and physical library facilities. The data was synthesized
and analyzed to generate this thesis. The study established that Isiolo County is characterized
by ethno-linguistic and religious fissures, social fragmentation and the politicization of
ethnicity. The results of these underlying tensions are manifested in discrimination and
marginalization of some ethnicities in employment, wealth creation opportunities and access
to developmental programs. Another source of conflict is the longstanding struggle over
demarcation of the boundary between the Isiolo and Meru Counties, worsened by the
migration of the Meru people into Isiolo County. Drought frequently reduces available
pasture for animals resulting in violent conflict between the pastoralists (Borana) and the crop
farmers (Meru). The outcomes of this conflict include displacement of people from their
homes, loss of livelihoods, destruction of infrastructure, loss of lives, reduced investment in
the county as well as the destruction and disintegration of social services. This conflict has
also created a fertile ground for terrorism, which is inflamed by religious extremism. | en_US |