Peace in Kenyan Watersheds

The juxtaposition of posters in Kenya last month showing movie violence and election candidates mirrors the country’s past pattern of violence during elections. This Pokot woman has placed a beaded version of the Kenyan flag on top of her traditional tribal garb to emphasize her wish that Kenyans unite together in peace. YESTERDAY 70% of …

Images of Ferguson Gulf Fish Market, Kenya

“We want people to focus on this region’s ecological dependence on this lake, the conflict potential if water levels fall and the national pride for this resource-rich lake that produces 30–40 tons of fish per year for Kenya,” states Ikal Angelei. NWNL had great photo ops and interviews at the Lake Turkana Fish Market on Ferguson's Gulf, Lodwar, Kapenguria and south from there along Muruni River, a tributary of the Turkwell River which flows into Lake Turkana. 

Can this baby hold onto its culture?

Southwest Ethiopia is arid; but monsoon rains in Omo River highlands have sustained generations of indigenous people downstream. Over many millennia, stable cultural systems have emerged from patterns of interaction with the perennial Omo River. Here, Nyangatom men are fiercely proud; Karo children are playful and creative; Hamar women are strong; swaddled Mursi babies are loved; …

NWNL photos featured in article

NWNL images from the Omo River Basin are featured in a recent article by Peter Bosshard,  How Chinese Loans Could Fuel Regional Conflict in East Africa. He writes, "The indigenous peoples of the Lower Omo Valley and Lake Turkana are extremely poor, but well-armed. They have a long history of resource conflicts over water, fisheries, …

Dam and Irrigation Projects Threaten Lake Turkana

Kenya’s Lake Turkana is the terminus of Ethiopia’s Omo River, which supplies 90% of the lake’s volume. L. Turkana (180 miles long and up to 30 miles wide) is the world’s largest permanent desert lake and largest alkaline lake. At 1,200 feet elevation, the lake is a closed (endorheic) basin, with high evaporation rates of …