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A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya

Caner Sayan Orcid Logo, Imogen Bellwood-Howard, John Wesonga, John Thompson, Robai Namulekhwa Liambila, Edith Warigia Wairimu, Tim Hess

Journal of Eastern African Studies, Pages: 1 - 26

Swansea University Author: Caner Sayan Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/17531055.2026.2654840

Abstract

Drought is a recurrent hazard in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya, a centre for commercial irrigated agriculture and horticulture. Drought affects smallholder farmers, pastoralists and larger-scale agricultural enterprises differentially. We gathered qualitative data through semi-structured indiv...

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Published in: Journal of Eastern African Studies
ISSN: 1753-1055 1753-1063
Published: Informa UK Limited 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71792
first_indexed 2026-04-24T11:56:42Z
last_indexed 2026-05-13T06:41:48Z
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spelling 2026-05-12T10:30:51.8048574 v2 71792 2026-04-24 A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya c6af905285a4bcd97a2fdf7cadc3cf3a 0000-0002-0803-3750 Caner Sayan Caner Sayan true false 2026-04-24 SOSS Drought is a recurrent hazard in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya, a centre for commercial irrigated agriculture and horticulture. Drought affects smallholder farmers, pastoralists and larger-scale agricultural enterprises differentially. We gathered qualitative data through semi-structured individual and group interviews with representatives of all Water Resource User Associations in the area, focussing on drought impacts on various actors, and the strategies they undertook to alleviate drought effects. We used an original framework combining insights from equitable resilience and environmental justice literatures to understand how absorptive, adaptive and transformative resilience capacities are distributed among different groups. Historical processes of land alienation and promotion of commercial farming have reduced pastoralists’ and smallholders’ access to land and financial, social and political capital, and their involvement in water governance processes, which are dominated by large-scale commercial flower farms. Thus, smallholders and pastoralists are more vulnerable to drought and less able to enact drought resilience strategies, such as establishing water storage infrastructure and fencing off water access points. The study confirms the importance of analysing how historical processes influence contemporary drought resilience capacities. This approach enhances resilience analyses in an era of climate change, with broad implications for livelihoods and business. Journal Article Journal of Eastern African Studies 0 1 26 Informa UK Limited 1753-1055 1753-1063 Equitable resilience, environmental justice, drought, smallholder farmers, Kenya 20 4 2026 2026-04-20 10.1080/17531055.2026.2654840 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This work was funded by the UKRI-GCRF Equitable Resilience Grant ES/T003006 and published as part of the “Supporting transformative adaptation and building resilience to drought for sustainable development” project. ES/T003006 2026-05-12T10:30:51.8048574 2026-04-24T12:53:08.2066713 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Caner Sayan 0000-0002-0803-3750 1 Imogen Bellwood-Howard 2 John Wesonga 3 John Thompson 4 Robai Namulekhwa Liambila 5 Edith Warigia Wairimu 6 Tim Hess 7 71792__36709__0e7e9854c6bc4676bace9c98655faabf.pdf 71792.VOR.pdf 2026-05-12T10:26:49.9790372 Output 1948111 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
spellingShingle A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
Caner Sayan
title_short A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
title_full A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
title_fullStr A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
title_full_unstemmed A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
title_sort A process-oriented approach to equitable resilience: insights from droughts in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya
author_id_str_mv c6af905285a4bcd97a2fdf7cadc3cf3a
author_id_fullname_str_mv c6af905285a4bcd97a2fdf7cadc3cf3a_***_Caner Sayan
author Caner Sayan
author2 Caner Sayan
Imogen Bellwood-Howard
John Wesonga
John Thompson
Robai Namulekhwa Liambila
Edith Warigia Wairimu
Tim Hess
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Eastern African Studies
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1753-1055
1753-1063
doi_str_mv 10.1080/17531055.2026.2654840
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
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description Drought is a recurrent hazard in Lake Naivasha Catchment Area, Kenya, a centre for commercial irrigated agriculture and horticulture. Drought affects smallholder farmers, pastoralists and larger-scale agricultural enterprises differentially. We gathered qualitative data through semi-structured individual and group interviews with representatives of all Water Resource User Associations in the area, focussing on drought impacts on various actors, and the strategies they undertook to alleviate drought effects. We used an original framework combining insights from equitable resilience and environmental justice literatures to understand how absorptive, adaptive and transformative resilience capacities are distributed among different groups. Historical processes of land alienation and promotion of commercial farming have reduced pastoralists’ and smallholders’ access to land and financial, social and political capital, and their involvement in water governance processes, which are dominated by large-scale commercial flower farms. Thus, smallholders and pastoralists are more vulnerable to drought and less able to enact drought resilience strategies, such as establishing water storage infrastructure and fencing off water access points. The study confirms the importance of analysing how historical processes influence contemporary drought resilience capacities. This approach enhances resilience analyses in an era of climate change, with broad implications for livelihoods and business.
published_date 2026-04-20T06:25:08Z
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