Article by Dr. Jarso Mokku, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of the Drylands Learning and Capacity Building Initiative (DLCI).

On this year’s International Day for the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we honor the mobile pastoralists, camel herders, and cattle keepers of Kenya’s drylands—Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) whose centuries-old systems of mobility, land stewardship, and cultural governance are vital to biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.
These communities are not merely stewards of the land—they are architects of ecological harmony, champions of drylands food systems, and custodians of sustainable coexistence.

Pastoralism: A Living System of Ecological Harmony

Pastoralist mobility is a scientific conservation model that promotes rotational grazing and seasonal migration, prevents land degradation, and encourages rangeland regeneration. It maintains wildlife corridors and ensures ecosystem balance through traditional ecological knowledge that guides grazing patterns, water harvesting, and seed preservation.

Livestock Diversity

Kenya’s drylands are home to Indigenous breeds such as Somali camels, Small Gabra camels (Chalbi Desert), Red Maasai sheep, Galla goats, and Boran cattle, which are genetically adapted to arid conditions. These breeds enhance biodiversity, food security, and climate resilience.

Water Wisdom
Many pastoralist practices deserve global recognition and celebration. Examples include Borana singing wells, drought-resistant “laggas,” water reservoirs, and earth pans, which support fragile ecosystems and alleviate pressure on limited water sources. These systems showcase profound hydrological understanding and community-driven water management.

Indigenous Governance and Stewardship
In centuries, Customary Institutions, the power of elders’ councils, and age-set systems have regulated access to land and resources, ensuring equity and ecological balance. Pastoralists have maintained, without policy support, the sacred sites as exclusive “Conservation Zones” for fragile spots and grazing reserves and sacred landscapes that continue to protect biodiversity hotspots from overuse and exploitation.

Conflict Resolution Mechanisms

intercommunity dialogue-based systems rooted in reciprocity that maintain peace and coexistence across shared landscapes between people and wildlife.

Pastoralism is a Global Model for Climate Resilience

Pastoralists are dynamic innovators whose knowledge systems support ecosystem-based adaptation strategies endorsed by the UNFCCC- (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity). Their practices provide nature-based solutions to restore degraded lands, develop resilient systems that transform community lives, promote peace, conserve natural resources, increase carbon sequestration, and foster inclusive governance.

Examples of Scalable Impact:

The Northern Kenya Rangelands Carbon Programme, the world’s largest soil carbon removal project, is a groundbreaking initiative that links climate action with community development and rangeland restoration, covering 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) and expected to remove 50 million tons of CO₂ over 30 years, equivalent to emissions from over 10 million cars. Over USD 14.6 million has already been earned by local communities from their carbon credit sales. This project supports livelihoods, biodiversity, and peacebuilding in a region historically affected by resource-based conflict.

Numerous women-led initiatives in Kenya’s drylands are aiming to revitalize seed banks and promote knowledge about medicinal plants, connecting biodiversity with nutrition and health. Moreover, Pastoralist Youth Networks are leveraging digital platforms to map grazing routes and preserve oral histories, integrating tradition with modern technology.

To truly honor pastoralist contributions, the world must recognize, protect, and invest in pastoralism and dryland economies. First, in Kenya, we can start with securing the community land rights through registration and legal reforms, embedding Indigenous governance systems into our national conservation frameworks, and integrating pastoralist knowledge into biodiversity and climate policy actions. The world needs to create a global fund that deliberately invests in Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC)-led innovations that blend tradition with science for scalable impact.

Kenya’s Drylands: Landscapes of Knowledge and Resilience

Kenya’s drylands are not barren—they are vibrant cultural and ecological spaces. Pastoralists are the heart of these landscapes. As we recognize them as Indigenous Peoples and global partners in conservation and food security, the most powerful tribute is to amplify their voices, protect their rights, and invest in their leadership—without waiting for formal policy or international endorsement.
Let us honor pastoralists not as relics of the past, but as architects of a sustainable future.