This paper examines a healthcare project run by the Africa Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) in north west Turkana. It considers the importance of attempting to adapt to the lives of pastoralists, and asks whether providing Western medicine on a mobile basis is sufficient to produce improved health.

Pastoralists are among the most disadvantaged of the world’s poor, but continue to be regarded with dismay by development agencies who have seemed unable to adapt their notions of development to the realities of pastoralism. Pastoralists are not only challenged by harsh climatic and ecological conditions, but have also faced pressure from governments and the donor community to become sedentarised.

Simon Harragin