By Betty Luke
Limited markets and limited investments in the gums and resins value chain for pastoralists in Isiolo have for a long time left them not maximally benefiting from the resource with many of them earning little or no income from the highly valued resource.
Many of the residents have viewed the acacia trees as just parts of their landscape and providing shades for their livestock during hot afternoons.
That could soon change following the launch of the Gum Arabic and Resins Association (GARA) Strategic Plan 2026–2030 in Isiolo, where government agencies, development partners and producer organizations unveiled a roadmap aimed at transforming the sector into a reliable source of income for communities across Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands.
The launch brought together officials from the Isiolo, Turkana, Samburu and Marsabit counties where hagar, gums and other natural resins occur natural especial from acacia trees.
Isiolo Trade CEC Lawrence Mwongela termed the launch as a major step towards economic sustainability of the region as well as a potential diversification enabler for the residents who have traditionally depended on livestock keeping that has proven unreliable.
“Gums and resins offer livestock keepers an alternative and reliable source of income especially when livestock keeping is no longer reliable due to changing whether patterns,” said Dr Mwongela.
He also called for the recognition of gums and resins in the Kenya’s agricultural sector noting that would enable producers’ benefit from government support just as farmers who grow other commodities.
He added that the County government was committed to fully supporting the sector by allocating budgets, promoting producer cooperatives as well as community sensitization initiatives.
Mikelina Nasieku, a resident from Oldonyiro ward, who narrated having tried to venture into gums and resins hailed the plan that she said would greatly enable her earn a decent livelihood.
“I learnt that gums can be source of income during a sensitization meeting and started collecting it while herding my goats but I have not found a proper way of earning anything from it,” she shared.
Development partners said the strategy provides a practical roadmap for building resilient livelihoods in Kenya’s drylands. Millennium Water Alliance, through its RAPID+ Programme funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, supported the development of the strategy to help communities generate sustainable incomes from locally available natural resources.
GARA Board Member Abdi Somo said the four counties have an untapped potential in gum and resin production, but the sector has struggled to reach its full potential due to weak market systems and limited investment.
He said implementing the five-year strategy would help create jobs, increase household incomes and generate more revenue for counties in the region.
