Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 5-2015 Innovative Governance and Natural Resource Management in Kenya: Procedural and Substantive Outcomes of Civil Society Participation Jane Omudho Okwako Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the African Studies Commons, Biodiversity Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Okwako, Jane Omudho, "Innovative Governance and Natural Resource Management in Kenya: Procedural and Substantive Outcomes of Civil Society Participation" (2015). Dissertations. 538. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/538 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN KENYA: PROCEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIVE OUTCOMES OF CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION by Jane Omudho Okwako A dissertation submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Political Science Western Michigan University May 2015 Doctoral Committee: James Butterfield, PhD., Chair Suhashni Datta-Sandhu, PhD. Mahendra Lawoti, PhD. Christine Moser, PhD. INNOVATIVE GOVERNANCE AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN KENYA: PROCEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIVE OUTCOMES OF CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION Jane Omudho Okwako, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2015 Kenya’s environmental sector is embracing co-management to address major threats to wildlife. In the past two decades, the Municipal-Community-Private Sector Partnership (MCPP) model evolved to address the threats. This dissertation seeks to explain variations in partnership outcomes. It evaluates whether the model as introduced empowers communities to be conservation stewards. This study hypothesized the impact of five variables. These are decentralization of power, elite support, capacity of community organizations, partnership formalization, and resources expended. The findings confirm that three variables are indispensable and two minimally influence empowerment. More decentralized management structures are enabling and supportive of empowerment. However, empowerment is only facilitated when decision making is anchored on strong elite support. Elite interests determine opportunity and community agency. Elites are profoundly influential in facilitating or inhibiting empowerment. Contrary to expectation, greater community capacity does not necessarily translate into empowerment. Additionally, rapid formalization matters while the resource types expended are necessary but not sufficient to enhance empowerment. The elite support variable interacts with the five variables as they influence empowerment. Elites are co- opted or engage coercively to enhance or inhibit empowerment. Other unanticipated intervening variables are also identified. The dissertation’s central features are integration of within-case and cross-case comparative analysis and evaluation of path-dependent partnership trajectories. On this basis, I gather context-specific data to explore the experiences of three partnerships in major protected area complexes. These are Laikipia, Amboseli, and the Mara Triangle. I conducted interviews, observed ecosystems, and conducted intensive document and literature reviews. Snowball and purposive sampling guided data collection processes. The lessons are three-fold. First, the institutional logic of MCPPs is not separate from the existing historical, organizational, social, and ecological contexts. The model is not a panacea, yet it is innovative. In two of the three cases it has had little impact on community empowerment. Laikipia’s decentralized management has enabled inclusiveness and has provided ideal conditions for rapid and proactive engagement of communities. The dispensation has reduced conflicts and hurdles for engagement. Amboseli’s and Mara Triangle’s exclusionary structures have created conflict and prevented community buy-in. Elite formations straddling bureaucratic, political, and local coalitions have prevented stable evolution and empowerment. © Jane Omudho Okwako ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks go to my advisor and mentor, Dr. James Butterfield for his guidance, patience, and dedication, which enabled me to complete my coursework, fieldwork, and writing. His laborious efforts were instrumental in producing this work. His constant advice and valuable insights provided a strong basis for developing new ideas as my writing progressed. He also inculcated a further sense of thoroughness and precision in my analysis. I appreciate his mentorship and leadership in the planning and completion of this dissertation. I thank all the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Suhashni Datta- Sandhu, Dr. Mahendra Lawoti, and Dr. Christine Moser. Their guidance and readiness to help me answer complex and ambiguous aspects of my work allowed me to solve many challenges more efficiently. They were always ready with valuable feedback and their level of thoroughness helped me to be effective and organized. I thank the Department of Political Science and the Graduate College at Western Michigan University for supporting my studies through different assistantships and scholarships and for providing me with a supportive learning environment. I am indebted to my family and especially my husband, Dr. Joel Sanya Lwande, for all the support that he has provided. His dedication, care, and prayers always propelled and anchored me when I made progress and when I weathered a few storms along the way. I also appreciate the support extended by my sister, Dr. Betty Okwako- Riekkola and my brother-in-law Richard Riekkola. I extend my gratitude to our family ii Acknowledgments—Continued including the Riekkolas, Peter Sande, Jeremy Lwande, and Immanuel Nyangweso (USA). I also owe immense gratitude to my family in Kenya for hosting me and enabling me to have a productive data collection process. I thank my parents, George and Patricia Okwako, and my siblings, Rose, Susan, John Paul, Stephen, and Martin. I appreciate the great support from my in-laws including Elijah, Rose, and Grace, and from my uncle Dr. Wilber Lwande and my aunt, Mrs. Winnie Lwande and my larger extended family. I give special thanks to my friends, and specifically the families of Mullan and Koufopoulou, Herbert and Victoria Kavunja, Walter and Mary Ochieng, Michael Campbell and Lee Ann Johnson, Bonfas and Rose Owinga, Irene and Remnant Mwanahiba, James Maghas, and Simon Guchu and their families. I cannot fail to thank my colleagues and friends for their unwavering support during my studies. Shahrzad Panahi, Lilian Juma, LaTasha Chaffin, Ken Awiti, Peter Kinuthia, David Maina, John Mugo, and many others who always supported and encouraged me in many ways. In as far as the logistics of the dissertation is concerned; I express my sincere and most heart-felt gratitude to my dissertation committee because this work would not have been possible without their dedication and professional advice. I thank Jason Glatz of Western Michigan University Libraries, Hebert Kavunja and Lee Ann for providing technical help and support. I also thank the Strathmore Governance Center for granting me the opportunity to be affiliated with the institution and the Africa Research and Resource Forum for granting me the Natural Resources Management Fellowship. I thank Stephen Muganda, Jacinta Nayieyo, Milcah Mutua, and Andrew Pylon for their dedicated iii Acknowledgments—Continued assistance in helping implement my data collection efforts in the Maasai Mara, Laikipia, and in the Amboseli. I also thank Philip Muiyoro of the Ministry of Tourism, Jacqueline Odudoh of KATO, and Kahindi Lakalhale of Eco-tourism Society of Kenya. I thank uncle Origa, uncle Dianga, and uncle Ganda and their families for the complementary and continued support that enabled me to organize my very first trip to and stay in the United States. Finally, I acknowledge the extensive support that I received from the former District Commissioner’s Offices in Narok, Kilgoris, Kajiado and Laikipia, the County Clerk’s offices at Narok, Trans Mara, Laikipia, and Kajiado, staff at the Kenya Forest Working Group, the East African Wildlife Society, the Kenya Forest Service, the Kenya Wildlife Service, and the National Environmental Management Authority. Their readiness and embrace set the pace for and enabled my data collection process. I appreciate the support that I received from partners at Molecular Technologies Laboratories (MTL) and Applied Biomolecular Technologies (ABT) in my final year of writing. I thank them immensely. Jane Okwako iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. ii LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xvii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xviii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION, THEORY, AND METHODOLOGY ..................................... 1 1. Introduction and scope of the study ..........................................................