Cattle Raids and Childhood Interrupted: Child Protection in Baringo’s Pastoralist War Economy in Kenya

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Page: 1282-1289

Naomi Mwelu Kilungu (Department of Peace and International Relations, Daystar University, Kenya, East Africa)

This paper investigated the child protection challenges in Kenya’s Baringo County, where cattle raiding has become an intricate war economy driven by climate change, resource competition, and arms proliferation. Despite existing global frameworks and Kenya’s devolved governance system, current interventions remain poorly adapted to conflicting pastoralist communities’ mobile lifestyles and cultural contexts. Employing Ubuntu Theory and Cultural Ecology Theory, the research analyzes the potential for integrating indigenous protection systems – including elder-led councils and traditional healing practices – with formal interventions. A systematic review of academic literature, policy documents, and institutional reports (2015-2024) reveals two critical findings: first, that top-down approaches often fail due to cultural incompatibility and inflexibility; second, that endogenous systems demonstrate remarkable resilience through collective care structures and ecological adaptation, though they face erosion from state policies and conflict dynamics. The study advances a decolonial framework for hybrid child protection models that strategically combine indigenous knowledge with formal systems. Key recommendations include policy recognition of traditional mechanisms, development of mobile-friendly interventions, and integrated approaches addressing both protection needs and conflict root causes. This study provides policy-relevant guidance for designing culturally responsive child protection strategies in pastoralist contexts, while making significant theoretical contributions to the discourse on harmonizing universal child rights frameworks with indigenous protection paradigms in conflict zones.