Hybrid Event I 29 January 2025 I 15:00 – 18:30 (CET)
The uncertainties of rural life in Eastern Africa’s underdeveloped arid and semi-arid districts have always presented challenges for the local communities of this long-neglected region. Over the past decade the supposed ‘resilience’ of these communities has been tested by the perceived impacts of climate change, and often disrupted by major political changes – for example devolution in Kenya, and severe instability in Ethiopia.
At the same time, national plans for economic development have for the first time promised significant investment in these areas, with new roads and improved transport infrastructure, energy projects around oil, electricity supply and geothermal resources, and greater local participation in development all building up hopes of a better future. This interdisciplinary workshop examines the challenges and the opportunities that this complex and sometimes contradictory future now presents in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya and Ethiopia.
