Transformation of Organized Violence from a Natural Resource Management Perspective

This study examines the impact of informal arrangements between the Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT), a non-governmental organization, pastoral communities, and state actors in northern Kenya, focusing on Isiolo and Samburu counties. The cases in these counties highlight the contrasting impacts of NRT-led conservation interventions on natural resource management (NRM). The work draws on 56 in-depth interviews, 41 focus group discussions, repeated field observation, and transect walks conducted between 2018 and 2024 with key informants, including NRT representatives, government officials, civil society actors, and pastoral community members, triangulating findings with conservation literature and government documents. The analysis reveals that public-private partnerships (PPPs) involving NRT and government actors are characterized by secrecy, and their influence is primarily evident through their impacts. Conservation efforts, often justified under the guise of environmental protection, have increasingly relied on the privatization and legitimization of coercive force. This militarized approach exacerbates resource conflicts and perpetuates cycles of violence. The study, thus, underscores the need for greater transparency and accountability in conservation initiatives to balance resource management and community livelihoods effectively.