Social and economic organization of the Boran of Isiolo district, Kenya

Abstract

This thesis describes recent changes in the way of life of Boran pastoralists in Isiolo District, Kenya. I focus, in particular on changes in their social and economic organisation since the of Shifta, the Somali-Kenya border war of the mid-nineteen sixty and the ways the Boran have coped with the extensive destruction of their livestock and with settlement at irrigation schemes. In Chapter I I outline the history of Boran in Isiolo District, their co~version to Islam, and the massive economic dislocatior caused by Shifta. Chapter II shows how Boran now 'make ends me as part-time pastoralists, farmers, wage labourers and traders, and the increasing wealth differentiation which has been a result of economic diversification. Chapters III, IV and V detail ceremony aspects of social organisation, and how the maintenance of traditional relationships, particularly those involved with the transaction of property, continue to be crucial to the success of boran economic adaptations. In the last the chapters (Chapters VI, VII and VIII) I discuss the ways Boran have adapted to settlement and agriculture in three different settlement schemes· sited along the Ewaso River, and describe how farmers at the schemes continue to invest in livestock and to maintain links with kinsmen and affines in pastoral areas. I argue that settlement and pastoralist are not incompatible so long as stockowners can continue to send stock to mobile stock camps. Finally, I conclude that, largely as a result of external factors beyond their centrol, many Boran are caught in a party trap, and are increasingly dependent on government and relief agencies