Scarcity, structures and scoundrels: water-related conflicts in northern Kenya

Kennedy Mkutu, David M. Anderson, Klerkson Lugusa, Evelyne Atieno Owino and Tessa Mkutu Agade

Water International, 2025, vol. 50, issue 7, 680-702

Abstract: Climate is often blamed for water-related conflicts in Isiolo County, Kenya. Using a qualitative approach we examine hotspot areas, to understand the relationships between climate, conflict and the political and institutional conditions that lead to scarcity and conflict. We conclude that amidst aridity, equitable resource-sharing can and does occur, mediated through formal and informal institutions. However, there is a tendency for water access to become politicized and commoditized, even corrupting the institutions that ought to govern equitable access, which often leads to conflict. This occurs in a wider context of state-led, foreign-funded expropriations of land for capitalist development.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2025.2549235

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