About

Waso Trustland Project (WTL) is the sole organization in our region fighting for indigenous land and resource rights.

Land and resource rights lie at the heart of the marginalization, poverty and conflict crippling northern Kenya. Local civil society has hesitated to engage with this politically charged issue. Land is a costly right to fight for: member of WTL have sacrificed both friends and liberty for the cause. Yet access to land and its resources lies at the heart of WTL’s goal of enabling local pastoral communities to escape poverty through sustainable access to natural resources.

Waso Trustland Project was conceived in 1995 by a group of concerned community elders gathered under an acacia tree. It was born to channel the community’s outcry against rampant land grabbing, land conflict and dispossession in Isiolo District that was debilitating the semi-nomadic and pastoralist peoples in the area.

Vision

A pastoralist community that understands their rights and responsibilities over communally-held land, and that is able to sustainably manage natural resources in order to improve their socio-economic and political well-being.

Mission

Our mission is to politically and economically empower the pastoralist communities in Isiolo District by advocating for policies that promote equitable distribution and sustainable utilization of land and its resources. We aim to do this through research, organizational networking, advocacy and community involvement in areas of land rights, livelihood, cultural heritage, conflict resolution and environmental conservation.

Program Areas

1)       Land Rights     

 Through lobbying, advocacy, civic education and legal action WTL aims to promote and protect land and resources rights and use among the pastoralist communities of Isiolo District. Our goal is to campaign for legal and institutional reforms related to pastoral land and resource management nationally and internationally, in order to ensure equitable access and community participation.

2)      Livelihood

We aim to improve the social and economic status of local communities by building their capacity for sustainable livelihoods through natural resources management. By doing so, we hope to promote and protect pastoralism as a viable livelihood system. We also support sustainable micro-enterprise community initiatives.

3)      Culture

WTL supports community initiatives to revitalize and maintain the cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of the region. We believe that our cultural heritage is integral to peace-building and environmental awareness, and encourage cultural sharing between communities and between generations. 

4)      Environmentalism

Waso Trustland supports initiatives in sustainable natural resource management, especially those that promote community access and control of project areas through networking and collaboration between local organizations. We nurture traditional systems of managing resources and coping with drought and other natural disasters. WTL aims to promote environmental conservation and to enhance its benefits for the pastoralist economy.

 5)      Conflict resolution

WTL was one of the organizations to initiate a District Peace Committe, bringing Isiolo communities together after the violent inter-ethnic clashes of 2000. WTL is committed to conflict resolution and peace building amongst the peoples of the district, with peace as a cross-cutting theme throughout our initiatives.

 

The Region – Isiolo County

Isiolo County is a vast arid and semi-arid zone, stretching over 25,605 square kilometers and comprising of three districts:  Garba Tulla, Isiolo and Merti. The people of Isiolo County are largely nomadic pastoralists, with livestock-keeping as the primary way of life interspersed with some small pockets of farming.

Rainfall in the region is extremely limited and has been decreasing, leaving the area prone to severe droughts. As such the Ewaso Niro River, flowing north from the Aberdares Range into the Lorian Swamp, is the lifeline of the region.

The region is home to five ethnic groups: the Borana, Somali, Meru, Samburu, and Turkana peoples. Of these, Merti and Garba Tulla districts are entirely peopled by the Borana, while Isiolo district is a cosmopolitan mix of all five groups.

The region suffers from frequent conflict over resources, flashing out in the form of violent cattle rusting. Conflict is particularly problematic in periods of drought, when completion over limited resources is exacerbated into violent cattle raiding between ethnic groups.