Taking Charge of the Future: Pastoral institution building in Northern Kenya

The Wajir Pastoral Development Project (WPDP), funded by DFID, Comic Relief and Oxfam, addresses a variety of pastoral livelihoods issues and aims to strengthen institutional capacity and leadership within the district - working with community organisations and with government and non-government bodies. Its objective is to give pastoralists more control over their lives by working directly with pastoral groups and building their skills, and by working with those in power to help them to become more aware of pastoralists’ needs. The paper looks at the processes at community and district level and summarises some of the main lessons learned.