BUILDING LIVELIHOOD RESILIENCE IN SEMI-ARID KENYA: WHAT ROLE DOES AGROFORESTRY PLAY? by AMY KATHRYN QUANDT B.S., University of Puget Sound, 2005 M.S., University of Montana Missoula, 2010 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies Program 2017 This thesis entitled: Building livelihood resilience in semi-arid Kenya: what role does agroforestry play? written by Amy Kathryn Quandt has been approved for the Environmental Studies Program _____________________________________ Dr. J. Terrence McCabe _____________________________________ Dr. Maxwell Boykoff _____________________________________ Dr. Lisa Dilling _____________________________________ Dr. Joel Hartter _____________________________________ Dr. Myles Osborne Date__________________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB protocol # 14-0059 ii ABSTRACT Quandt, Amy Kathryn (Ph.D., Environmental Studies) Building livelihood resilience in semi-arid Kenya: what role does agroforestry play? Thesis directed by Professor J. Terrence McCabe Livelihoods must adapt to global and local changes in order to maintain livelihood resilience. Agroforestry is one potential livelihood activity which can help farmers adapt to changes and shocks. This dissertation explores if and how agroforestry is building livelihood resilience in the face of environmental and socio-economic shocks in Isiolo County, Kenya. Drawing from resilience thinking and political ecology, this research focused on general livelihood resilience, along with livelihood resilience to floods, droughts, violent conflict, and wildlife crop raiding. Field work was conducted in 2014-2015 in the communities of Burat and Kinna. A mixed methods research approach was used including archival research, collection of ecological data, key informant interviews, household surveys, and qualitative case study households. The sustainable livelihoods approach was used to develop indicators of resilience, organized by the five capital assets (physical, human, natural, social, and financial). A total of 339 quantitative household surveys were conducted in addition to 20 qualitative household case studies, which were interviewed three times throughout the year. The qualitative household case study interviews were coded using QSR NVivo 10, and the quantitative data was analyzed with Microsoft Excel and Stata IC13. Results suggest that agroforestry can help build livelihood resilience both in general and to flood, drought, violent conflict, and wildlife crop raiding. The major benefits were shade and fruit for sales and household consumption; the main tree species included mango, papaya, banana, guava, and neem. The average of all five livelihood capital scores was 10% higher for households practicing agroforestry. During floods and droughts agroforestry helped to build livelihood resilience by providing livelihood and environmental benefits. The majority of survey respondents listed agroforestry as very important during drought (55% of respondents) and flood (60%). Burat experienced a violent conflict in 2012. The results show how agroforestry helped build livelihood resilience during and after this conflict by providing a source of income, food, places to hide from attackers, and construction materials for rebuilding homes. When exploring livelihood resilience to wildlife crop raiding, 56% of survey households reported that agroforestry provided income when other crops were damaged by wildlife. iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my grandmother Mary Quandt. She always has been, and continues to be, an inspiration to our family. I am happy to have inherited her sense of adventure and thirst for knowledge (and also her stubbornness). This dissertation is also dedicated to the people of Isiolo, Kenya. My friends in Isiolo became my family while I was there and it was a pleasure to get to know the farmers who stories are included in this dissertation. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks and gratitude go out to the many people who supported me and helped keep me laughing during the entire dissertation process; from developing my research proposal back in 2013 until now. In fact, my motivation for this dissertation goes back as far as 2004 when I first stepped foot in Kenya on a study abroad program. It was then that I fell in love with Kenya, field research, and travel. That experience has forever changed my life. Additionally, much appreciation goes out to my friends, both American and Tanzanian, who spent two years with me as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. It was then that I truly gained an understanding of what it is like living in a small farming community in East Africa and learned to speak Kiswahili, which was invaluable for my dissertation research This dissertation would not have been possible without the financial and logistical support which assisted both in proposal development and conducting field work. The Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre provided support for my first visit to Isiolo County in 2013. I spent three months traveling around Isiolo conducting a livelihoods survey, which was an invaluable introduction to Isiolo and its people. This trip in 2013 would not have been possible without Sirak Abebe Temesgen, my supervisor, Abdi Doti, my driver whose love of Ace of Base is equal to mine, and Antony Kimathi, my faithful research assistant. The staff and volunteers at the Kenya Red Cross Society – Isiolo were incredibly welcoming and continued to support me throughout my dissertation with friendly faces, great conservsation, and Paulina’s chai, which she delivered to my desk at 10am every morning (best chai I have ever had). I thank the Kenya Red Corss Society – Isiolo Branch for their continued support thoughout the years and the entire research process. This first trip to Kenya would also not have been possible without Max Boykoff and Lisa Dilling and their work to start and manage the University of Colorado Boulder’s Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre Internship Program. I honestly have no clue where I would be today without this internship, which profoundly shaped my dissertation work and graduate school experience. For my dissertation research, I spent an entire year, July 2014 to July 2015, in Isiolo, Kenya. This would not have been possible without the financial support from the U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Graduate Research Grant. I am indebted to this great program which fosters the next generation of researchers and leaders in the field of food security. As a requirement for this grant I developed a partnership with Dr. Henry Neufeldt at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi. Henry’s support and mentorship throughout my dissertation research has been invaluable. His knowledge of agroforestry has contributed significantly to the development and analysis of my dissertation research. I am forever thankful to Henry for taking a chance on me. Thanks also go out to the World Agroforestry Centre staff who took care of all the paperwork required for this project. They saved me a big headache! I also need to thank the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder for their continued support and flexibility. The faculty and staff always supported me, helped find me funding, and more importantly gave me the flexibility to explore whever my research took me. Thank you Penny Bates for answering my endless questions about anything related to graduate school, you are a valuable resource for the Environmental Studies Program. I am forever in gratitude to my friends in Kenya that both supported my research and provided laughter and companionship. Without them I would have accomplished nothing. Noor Hussein Noor and Tonny Mwiti were the two best research assistants I could have asked for. They put up with all my crazy requests and ideas, and most importantly, made research v enjoyable. I will never forget that rainy motorcycle ride back from Burat with all three of us on one motorbike, splashing through puddles and laughing the entire way home. Special thanks go to Noor Hussein Noor who not only helped me in research, but was my best friend in Isiolo. I also need to thank the Red Cross Volunteers who worked for me as survey enumerators. They all did a fantastic job conducting surveys, and always had smiles on their faces, even on days where we walked 10+ miles in the heat of the day. A big debt of gratitude goes out to all my friends who spent endless hours sitting and chatting with me at Kim’s used clothing corner shop. This companionship helped me integrate into the community and provided me with much laughter and conversation. Special thanks to Kim, Boyz, Kings, Flex, Honey Boy, Metro, Antony, Ghost, and the many others. Kim, I will always admire your spirit and commitment to your family and community. I hope my epic going away party will be in your memory and remind you of the fun year we spent together (Amy ni Murua!). I also need to thank the staff at the Waso Dispensary, particularly Mama Clinton and Doctor Purity for the female companionship. I thoroughly enjoyed our weekly lunches together and will cook you sukuma anytime you want! Of all my friends in Isiolo, none do I appreciate more than Moon. Thank you for taking me into your home as one of the family. I will never forget our afternoons cooking together during Ramadan. Your kindness and generosity is unparalleled. Much appreciation also goes to the gang of kids and neighbors that were always over at your house including Mickey, Nana, Pascalina, Yeyo, and G. You all provided many afternoons of play, fun, and food! In great debt of gratitude and appreciation I would like to thank my dissertation committee members Terry McCabe, Max Boykoff, Lisa Dilling, Joel Hartter, and Myles Osborne. Your expertise and assistance throughout the research process was invaluable. You all never failed to answer my questions about survey instruments or data analysis.