Based on in-depth field research in northern Kenya over three years, this article makes the case for a new approach to building resilience in the pastoral drylands. Past approaches based on project-style interventions have not worked, but a 'resilience from below' approach offers an alternative, we argue. The article elaborates the contrasts between these approaches, highlighting how 'resilience' must be framed as emergent, relational and processual rather than simply as an externally-defined, planned response; how 'crises' and 'disasters' should be seen less as singular events but part of a normal unfolding of uncertain conditions; how local knowledges and institutions are central to building resilience based on trust, rather than a reliance on planned projects; and how resilience building is always differentiated according to axes of gender and generation, yet often emerges through collective responses rooted in local moral economies and social solidarities. In the context of less external support for standard resilience projects, this in turn suggests new roles for external intervention focused on facilitating local actors, networks, and social relations. This has important implications for development in the drylands.