Disasters in northern Kenya are on the rise. Some of these disasters are familiar but are increasing in frequency and severity, such as the recent cycle of drought and flooding and the recent desert locust upsurge. Other disasters are relatively new to the region, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Disasters risk exacerbating pre-existing tensions in society. However, there are also signs that disasters enable new forms of collective action and solidarity in response to shared challenges. Shared Lands examines how disasters are experienced and responded to in landscapes undergoing rapid change, as well as how disasters transform conflict for better or worse. We are also interested in improving knowledge of how nonhuman life is both affected by disasters and factored into disaster responses.
Key research projects in this area include:
- Documenting pastoralists experience and knowledge of desert locust outbreaks
- Understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on insecurity in northern Kenya
Some of our relevant outputs include:
- Open access, peer-reviewed article: Disaster management takes to the skies: How new technologies are reconfiguring spatialities of power in desert locust management
- Report: The Desert Locust Crisis in Kenya: Why Inclusive Anticipatory Action is Needed in Disaster Management
- The Desert Locust Upsurge: Then and Now (a story form exhibition)
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