Senior Researcher and Team Leader for the Karamoja Cluster research team (Eastern Uganda, Western Kenya, and South Sudan), Darlington has worked on community-based programs with pastoralist communities in Africa for over 25 years and is an expert on their indigenous knowledge and culture. He has pioneered community-based approaches to livestock care in East Africa and was instrumental in establishing programs that controlled rinderpest in Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya. His training as a veterinarian and his reputation as a peacemaker affords him great respect throughout the region; he is considered by officials within the African Union’s Conflict Management Unit among the most respected and successful peacemakers in Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan. Within his capacity in the AU, Dr. Akabwai has worked to develop one of the cornerstones of its work: pastoral conflict resolution and management, including working with local women to bring peace to the area with “Women’s Peace Crusades”. He holds a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Nairobi. His current work focuses on Uganda and South Sudan with an emphasis in Karamoja.
E-mail: darlington.akabwai@tufts.edu
Reports
Customary authority in the Karamoja region of Uganda has undergone profound shifts in parallel to the changing livelihoods and security conditions in the region over the past several decades. This study, funded by Irish Aid Kampala, examines the evolution of … Read More
The latest report on the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda examines the livelihood strategies and vulnerabilities of migrants from rural areas to the urban areas of Moroto and Mbale and documents the opportunities, risks and challenges of life in these towns.
This report is the result of the first phase of a partnership with Save the Children in Uganda. Based on field work conducted in April 2009 in Moroto and Kotido Districts, Changing Roles, Shifting Risks: Livelihood Impacts of Disarmament in Karamoja, Uganda examines the experiences and perceptions of communities of the present disarmament campaign carried out by the Uganda People’s Defence Force and the Government of Uganda.
This new report on the Karamoja Cluster of Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia is the result of several years of field work by a respected Teso elder from the region with assistance from a Turkana woman. Dr. Akabwai, the lead author, has over thirty years of experience in the Karamoja Cluster, where he started working as a large animal veterinarian in the early 1970s. Based on his extensive contacts within local communities, Dr. Akabwai was able to gain access to privileged information on the weapons trade and cattle raiding that underpin the widespread insecurity across the larger region. Ms. Ateyo’s participation in the research facilitated access to women of all ages. The result is a unique and thorough examination and analysis that includes gendered and generational perspectives.
Karamoja is the poorest and least developed region of Uganda. The population experiences chronic food insecurity, little access to basic services, the weakening of traditional livelihood systems, ongoing insecurity, human rights violations and a near complete lack of law and order institutions. Armed raiding of livestock and associated loss of life and destruction of property are common and pervasive. Economic investment and development is minimal due to the threat of road ambushes and lack of transport and communication infrastructure. Attention to the region, however, on the part of national and international agencies, donors, and Ugandan legislators is growing. This field-based report provides an in-depth analysis of key aspects affecting livelihood strategies and human security in the region, as well as broad recommendations for local, national and international actors seeking to expand their knowledge, policies or programming in the Karamoja region.
Briefing Papers
As part of a larger project entitled “Livelihoods and Human Security in Karamoja,” this briefing paper presents findings on causal factors and broad patterns in out-migration among the Bokora population. The paper also seeks to provide context for the specific case study of the population picked up on the streets of Kampala and sent to a reception site at Kobulin in Bokora County of Moroto District. Using a gender and generational analysis, the briefing paper presents data on the main factors underlying out-migration, the mechanics of this process, people’s experiences in the cities, the return to Kobulin, and the population’s current situation and hopes for the future.
Other Major Publications
Customary authority in the Karamoja region of Uganda has undergone profound shifts in parallel to the changing livelihoods and security conditions in the region over the past several decades. This study, funded by Irish Aid Kampala, examines the evolution of … Read More