Between late 2020 and early 2023, an exceptional drought disrupted the lives of the Daasanach, semi-nomadic herders in the Turkana Basin in northern Kenya. Livestock losses reduced access to milk and meat, while families moved closer to towns and fishing took on a new role. A study conducted from 2019 to 2024 shows that the return of the rains did not restore resources, diets and ways of life at the same pace.
As herds shrink, diets change
For the Daasanach, animals are a source of food and a livelihood, as well as a central part of pastoral organisation. The study, involving 515 adults and 384 children, tracked several dimensions of the drought: access to water and food, coping strategies and nutritional status. It compares observations collected before, during and after the episode.
Herds contracted sharply. In 2019, households owned an average of 24 sheep and goats; in 2022 and 2023, the average had fallen to eight. For cattle, the average fell from six animals per family before the drought to two during this period. Herds had recovered only slightly by 2024. This decline matters beyond the animals’ economic value: fewer animals also mean less milk and meat available day to day.
Milk consumption fell sharply during the drought, then rebounded in 2024. Meat consumption, by contrast, declined and remained lower a year after the episode ended. As diets worsened, nutritional status deteriorated too. Children who had consumed milk had better nutritional outcomes over the course of the study than those who had not. This association highlights the importance of access to milk; on its own, it does not establish that milk explains all the differences observed.
Fishing: from a marginal activity to a supplementary resource
When livestock was no longer enough, some families fished more, either to feed themselves or to sell their catch and buy other foods. This adaptation also shifted a social norm. According to the researchers, fishing had traditionally been looked down on in communities where pastoralism and meat played an important role: people who fished could be associated with poverty because they had no herd. During the drought, its more widespread use helped ease this stigma.
Fishing does not simply replace livestock keeping. It provides another source of food or income, and can help households buy animals to rebuild their herds. The research team reports that fishing continued after conditions improved, with fishing income used to replenish livestock. Diversification can therefore expand the options available in the face of shocks, without removing dependence on natural resources or guaranteeing a rapid recovery in livestock keeping.
Mobility also changed. Pastoralism in this region depends in part on being able to move herds to more favourable pasture when conditions deteriorate. During the drought, the Daasanach moved less with their animals; this reduced mobility continued after the episode. Families also moved to Illeret or settled closer to towns, where they could more easily access food aid, schools and other services.
This proximity can meet immediate needs, but it goes hand in hand with a more lasting change in how pastoralism is practised. Moving herds is not just a response to rainfall: it also depends on the animals that remain, the resources available and the opportunities to make a living. The monitoring therefore suggests increased sedentarisation—that is, a more settled way of life—even after the drought ended.
Difficulties do not all ease at the same time
People’s reported experiences and material resources did not follow the same trajectory. During the drought, problems accessing water and food worsened, as did concerns about having to move because of water. These measures of reported insecurity had returned to pre-drought levels by 2024. Herds, however, remained greatly reduced, and several nutritional effects persisted.
The consequences also differed by gender. At the height of the drought, women reported greater food and water insecurity than men and experienced greater losses in body fat. The researchers partly attribute these differences to daily responsibilities: women are primarily responsible for collecting water and preparing meals, and often eat after other household members. The same shortage therefore weighs differently depending on how work and food are distributed.
The monitoring concerns a specific population and context: it sheds light on the experiences of the Daasanach, but their responses cannot be directly extrapolated to other communities. It nevertheless shows why measuring drought only through rainfall or animal numbers leaves some of its effects out of view. Knowing how often people lack water, reduce their food intake or change where they travel complements environmental measurements.
In Turkana, the improvement in reported water conditions in 2024 therefore did not mean a complete return to the previous situation. Families retained some of their new strategies, particularly fishing, while herds and nutrition recovered more slowly. To understand the resilience of a pastoral way of life, animals, food, mobility and the tasks that make access to resources possible must be considered together.
References
- Study published in the journal “Global Environmental Change”, Duke University record
- Presentation of the findings by Penn State University
- Mongabay article about the study
A boat on Lake Turkana, Kenya. Contextual photo of the region.
