Building and rebuilding cities and new communities is a complex and challenging endeavor under the best of circumstances.  Among other things, it requires merging public and private interests and resources.  However, the traditional process of urban and suburban development can be inherently confrontational - an arm-wrestling contest between the local government and the developer to see which will win distinctly different prizes.

Since independence, the creation of productive and sustainable employment opportunities has remained a central policy priority of the Kenya government.  A number of policy interventions have been formulated and variously implemented in that period.  Key among these policies is the growth-oriented development strategy augmented by a high wage and Kenyanization policies adopted at independence (Republic of Kenya, 1964).

It was believed that long-term and sustained high rates of economic growth would facilitate generation of employment opportunities at rates higher than the proportionate increase in the labour force (Republic of Kenya, 1969).

Turkana, in northwest Kenya, is the country’s poorest and least developed county.  Pastoralism in Turkana is well adapted to the harsh climatic conditions, but an increase in drought frequency associated with global climate change and intensifying violent conflicts between pastoral groups poses significant challenges for local communities.  The conflicts are especially violent in the border region between the Turkana and the Pokot communities.  In this very region significant oil reserves have recently been found.  The first aim of this paper is to analyse how the oil exploration affects the communities’ vulnerability to climate change.  Secondly, the paper explores the risk of the oil explorations creating new conflicts or aggravating existing ones.  The primary method of the study is qualitative field research supplemented with a geo-spatial analysis of conflict data.  The field research was conducted in October 2013 and April 2014 in three villages with different levels of engagement with the oil exploration.  At the time of the research, oil exploration was expected close to Lokwamosing, while it had recently started in the vicinity of Lopii and had been ongoing for a longer time close to Nakukulas. The findings suggest that the oil exploration increases the community’s vulnerability to climate change.   Further, unmet community expectations for water, employment and development pose a significant risk for violent conflict between local communities and the operating oil company.  Intercommunal conflict over water and land could increase as well.

The reports in this volume assess how governments in Eastern and Southern Africa can enhance the local economic impacts of tourism.  There are at least five good reasons why this is an ideal time to review what governments can do in this field.

The first is simply the growth of tourism in developing countries, including many African countries.  International tourism receipts doubled in sub-Saharan Africa in the decade from 1994, and continued growth is projected.  Africa has a larger share of world tourism than of global exports.  Thus it is easy to see why tourism is increasingly seen as a priority sector in many African countries.

Under the guidance of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS), the Kenyan economy has recovered and resumed the path to rapid growth.  The economy is expected to grow by more than 6 per cent in 2007 from 0.6 per cent in 2002.  The growth has been widely distributed, covering all economic and social sectors and resulting in reduction in poverty levels from 56 per cent in 2002 to 46 per cent in 2006.  This growth has not only impacted positively on education, health, gender, and environment, but also provided more resources to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) across theeconomy.  Currently, more resources have been devolved to the local level through schemes such as the Constituency Development Fund, the Local Authority Transfer Fund, the Constituency Bursary Fund, and the Constituency Aids Fund among others.  Despite the development registered under the ERS, the country continues to face constraints including poor infrastructure, inadequate institutional reforms and inefficiency in production at firm and household levels.  On the whole, Kenyans have reason to be satisfied by the results even though much remains to be done.  ERS expires in December 2007 and Kenya will embark ona new long-term vision to guide her development in the next 25 years.