Climate Adaptation as Relational Capacity
an Intersectional Study of Pastoralist Women in Kajiado, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v38i2.153042Nøgleord:
Climate Adaptation, Collective Action, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Intersectionality, Livelihood Diversification, PastoralismResumé
Pastoralist women in Kenya’s Kajiado County confront intensifying drought, yet adaptive capacity varies markedly. Using six focus group discussions across three ecologically distinct sites, this study applies an intersectional lens to explain that variation. Findings show that elders’ ecological expertise stabilises herds only when labour and institutional recognition are available; livelihood diversification delivers secure gains for women with land, credit, or schooling, but channels the asset poor into precarious, time intensive work; and collective savings groups buffer shocks when fees and rules are inclusive but reproduce class and marital hierarchies when they are not. I reframe adaptation as a relational capacity involving the conversion of cultural, social, economic, and symbolic resources through everyday rules that allocate recognition and authority. My findings identify policy levers in labour support, collateral design, and group governance that can shift coping towards adaptation.
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