Livestock is important to the economies of countries in Northern and Eastern Africa, and there has been a need to demonstrate this contribution. The FAO IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative has published a series of studies by Roy Behnke (together with co-authors) on the contribution of livestock to the national economies of four countries in the region: Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda.
Pastoralism
Pastoralism is changing. Food crises and a lack of government support are fuelling concerns that pastoralist livelihoods are unviable, both as a way of life and a system of producing food.
Yet new opportunities are opening up: better communications, transport and large shifts in trade are changing the commercial landscape. And some governments are embracing pastoralism more closely than before as part of their economic strategy.
The Future Agricultures Consortium is investigating the changing landscape of pastoralism in the Horn of Africa. We are examining who wins and loses from the changes taking place, and why. We are also looking at the new forms pastoralism is taking, and how pastoralists are responding to change in different ways.
Studies on the economic contributions of livestock in North and East Africa
Project: The politics of changing pastoral livelihoods in the Horn of Africa
This project explores how changes in social, economic and political systems in the Horn of Africa are changing the nature of pastoralism, and the new types of pastoralism that are emerging.
Our research explores the following areas:
The characteristics of the changing economy in pastoral areas of the Horn of Africa associated with new dynamics of marketing, trade, investment and integration,
the emergence of new forms of pastoralism, and pastoral engagement with other production systems, in and as a result of these new systemic contexts, and
the changing engagement of pastoralists and pastoral systems in political environments in the region.
Book: Pastoralism and Development in Africa
This book gives a view of ‘development at the margins’ in the pastoral areas of the Horn of Africa. Edited by Andy Cutley, Jeremy Lind and Ian Scoones, Pastoralism and Development In Africa highlights innovation and entrepreneurialism, cooperation and networking and diverse approaches which are rarely in line with standard development prescriptions. Through 20 detailed empirical chapters, the book highlights diverse pathways of development, going beyond the standard ‘aid’ and ‘disaster’ narratives.
This book is part of the STEPS Centre's Pathways to Sustainability book series.
A discount of 20% is available until the end of 2012 (see below).
Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins
Earthscan / Routledge, July 2012
Paperback, £24.95 GBP
Order online (discount code: PDA20)
FAC and its partners host MPs meeting on pastoral livelihoods and policy
Securing land tenure for pastoralists in Kenya is one of the major concerns for policymakers from the pastoral community.
A breakfast meeting hosted by Future Agricultures Consortium and its partners, Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE) and Pastoralists Development Network of Kenya (PDNK) addressed the issue. Members of parliament from the pastoral community expressed concerns that pastoralists continue to lose large chunks of their land to competing interests such as irrigation agricultural and to private developers.
Researchers discuss pastoralist innovation: Video
FAC Researchers speak about pastoral innovation after presenting five research findings at FAC's University of the Bush in November 2010.
University of the Bush: Seminar 2
The second in the series of seminars known as the ‘University of the Bush’ took place at Malka Bisan Adi near Kinna, Kenya, on 22-24 November 2010. Around 50 pastoralists attended from across Kenya and southern Ethiopia. They were joined by the local MP, Hon. Abdul Ali Bahar and MP for Saku and Deputy Minister for the Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands, Hon. Hussein Tari Sasura. Two representatives from DFID-Kenya also attended the seminar.
The Future of Pastoralism in Africa
An international conference to debate the future of pastoralists in Africa, 21-23 March 2011, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The future of pastoralism in Africa is uncertain and radical changes are affecting Pastoralist areas in terms of access to resources, options for mobility and opportunities for marketing. These changes bring new possibilities for making pastoralist livelihoods stronger but many questions remain about the sustainability of these changes: Is there opportunity for a productive, vibrant, market-oriented livelihood system or will pastoralist areas remain a backwater of underdevelopment, marginalisation and severe poverty? How can pastoralist ‘drop-outs’ be supported after they leave the livelihood but continue to interact with the livestock sector?
Pastoralist Innovation Systems
The research focus of this project has been to explore and critically assess pastoralist innovation systems.
There has been very little literature on innovation in the livestock sector and a particular lack of knowledge on innovation involving pastoralists. Existing formal innovation systems in the livestock sector emphasise the development of new technology and knowledge by scientists, such as cross-breeding livestock and improving methods of artificial insemination, reflecting a bias toward ranching and commercial beef production.
Policy briefing
Innovation works: pastoralists building secure livelihoods in the Horn of Africa (download PDF)
Publication: Pastoral Innovation Systems
While there has been much discussion of the importance of innovation in African agriculture, remarkably little has focused on mobile pastoral systems. Everyone agrees that science, technology and innovation must be at the centre of economic growth, livelihood improvement and development more broadly. But it must always be asked: what innovation - and for whom? Decisions about direction, diversity and distribution are key in any discussion of innovation options and wider development pathways.
Pastoralist Responses to Change
SOS Sahel International UK publishes a booklet on 'scenario planning' as a way to help pastoralists in Africa manage uncertainty and change. See:
- Planning with Uncertainty: Using Scenario Planning with African Pastoralists
- Pastoralist Innovation Systems
E-debate: Pastoralism in Crisis?
Drought in the Horn of Africa – again. With the region's worst drought in over a decade, pastoral households around the Ethiopian, Kenyan and Somali borders have been hard hit. Alongside the humanitarian response, a re-emerging debate on the future of pastoral systems is taking shape. Is the proverbial grass greener on one side than the other?
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