FROM CATTLE TO GOATS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF EAST POKOT PASTORALISM IN KENYA

Once the epitome of a perceived 'resistance to change' among East African pastoralists, Pokot pastoralism has changed rapidly and profoundly in recent years. In less than two decades, the pastoral economy of the eastern Pokot, which constitutes the focus of this contribution, transformed from specialized, highly mobile and subsistence-oriented cattle herding to largely sedentary and market-oriented keeping of small stock. The transformation process is embedded in a general trend towards economic diversification, sedentarization and social stratification. The article approaches the transformation of East Pokot pastoralism from a diachronic perspective and makes use of longitudinal data sets collected during several periods of long-term and short-term research between 1987 and 2005.