Land pressure is most acute in marginal pastoral areas, where livestock husbandry tends to have
adverse effects on the environment, often perpetuating poverty. Overgrazing in these marginal
areas is caused by increased animal and human population pressure, changes in grazing patterns
due to privatization of land, losses of grazing lands to agriculture, limited mobility due to
political insecurity, open access problems and absence of mechanisms for smoothening number
of stocks through the seasons. Faced with increased pressure on land, changing property right
systems and rising poverty, herders are forced to adopt various coping strategies. This paper
explores the main determinants of three strategies: crop cultivation, investment in land
improvements and migration with livestock among herders in Kajiado district, Kenya. We argue
that these strategies have important implications for poverty alleviation and reduction in levels of
environmental degradation. The paper also explores the impact of property rights and assets
among other factors on household poverty.