Lake Turkana, Kenya – Envisioning A Climate Change-Proof Future
European Research Council (ERC), Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts (LICIIs)
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Abstract: This research brief explores the climate change experiences and adaptive strategies of the Daasanach people, an agropastoralist community living around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Drawing on fieldwork conducted under the LICCI project, the document highlights how intersecting drivers—including climate variability, demographic pressures, conservation regulations, and large water infrastructure (notably the Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia)—are transforming the social-ecological systems of the region. The Daasanach, whose livelihoods depend on herding, agriculture, and increasingly fishing, are facing decreased rainfall, heightened drought severity, and declining access to freshwater and pasturelands. These impacts are amplified by exclusionary conservation policies and disruptions in traditional mobility.