Turkana and Dassenach are pastoralist communities sharing pasture and water along the Kenya – Ethiopia border. There are, however, semi-nomadic sections of the two communities, residing in areas near the shores of Lake Turkana – the largest desert lake in the world and the most saline lake in East Africa.
The last few decades see sharp shrinking of the lake from Ethiopian territory towards Kenya, forcing the Dassanech community to move towards Kenya, resulting in frequent conflict with the Turkana community over fish. The lake is steadily shrinking for three reasons: drought that reduces flow of the River Omo which supplies about 90% of water to the lake; higher temperatures which scientists say increased evaporation rate in the lake, and; Ethiopia’s construction of a hydroelectric and irrigation dams along the Omo River.
Koech Cheruiyot Denis 