Agricultural Intensification and Conflicts over Natural Resources:
Social Dynamics in the Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya
05-06 October 2020, Cologne, Germany
With the establishment of an export-oriented flower and vegetable industry, Lake Naivasha in Kenya has transformed from an economy based on extensive livestock-keeping into an important site of agricultural intensification. The need for labour also resulted in an upsurge in human population, creating patches of urban settlement in this previously rural area. Despite contestations over natural resources in the immediate surroundings of the lake and in its hinterland, agro-industry manages to co-exist with tourism, national and private conservation parks, the development of geothermal energy sites and small- and medium-scale farming.
Whereas the environmental and ecological history of the lake has received due attention, social scientific research on Naivasha's transformation has been more scant. Based on past and on-going research projects on socio-ecological dynamics and future-making practices at Lake Naivasha, this edited volume aims to draw attention to the diverse imaginations of Naivasha as a place for development, residence or natural conservation, and to the varied aspirations of those working and living there. It thus accounts for past and current actions that have made Naivasha into an agro-hub with relevance on local, national and global levels.
Convenors:
Michael Bollig, University of Cologne
Eric Kioko, Kenyatta University
Gerda Kuiper, University of Cologne
Workshop Venue:
Online Workshop
Please register with Gerda Kuiper
gkuiper@uni-koeln.de
Registration deadline: October 1, 2020