In this section, you may find new materials that have been published on the topic of ‘Pastoralism’ since the date of the event. We continually select major new publications and articles that add up to the policy points discussed in the briefing.
– Pastoralism and the World Conservation Congress
iucnworldconservationcongress.org, 25/08/2016
The IUCN World Conservation Congress is held every four years, shaping the direction of conservation and sustainable development globally: www.iucnworldconservationcongress.org. We live in a time of tremendous change, the nature and extent of which is the subject of intense debate around the world. At the heart of this debate is the clash of immediate human needs with their long-term impacts on the planet’s capacity to support life. The debate over our future is often stuck between two opposing points of view. One is a pessimistic view of our future which claims that it is already too late to avoid catastrophe, and therefore we must now focus on survival and recovery. The other, optimistic, view is that Humanity has overcome many great challenges in the past and will continue to do so. However, this view risks indifference and denial.
–Agribusiness: Betting on Senegal’s un-milked cows
theafricareport.com, 17-03-2015
While 3 million cows roam in Senegal, there is no dairy company to processes their milk. This reality touches on two important issues of Africa’s development: how to monetise subsistence livelihoods and how to kick-start production of consumer goods in a continent reliant on imports. Additionally, while demand for dairy products is growing among Senegal’s middle class, consumer choice remains limited to either imported milk or milk powder. Currently, Africa’s dairy industry produced around 17 million tonnes of products in 2014, of which around 7 million were made from imported milk, according to the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN), which promotes knowledge of global dairy. IFCN also predicts that demand for milk will rise commensurate with population and income growth. “If I could start a dairy industry that will buy milk from the local farmers and make products that consumers will like, we could create something sustainable,” said Bagore Bathily founder of the La Laiterie du Berger (LDB). LDB remains the only dairy processing company in Senegal using milk from the local herds. Bathily, who was a vet for pastoral farmers saw this as an opportunity and raised funds from family and an angel investor, France-based Investisseurs & Partenaires, to start the firm.
– Pastoralist aspirations versus policy in the Horn of Africa
IRIN News, 24 February 2014
Since the Horn of Africa drought of 2011 aid agencies have been working to understand the changes taking place in the drylands, hoping to better anticipate people’s needs. Recent research shows these changes go beyond climate and environment to encompass social and economic factors. The findings have important policy implications.
-What does the future hold for pastoralists in the Sahel?
IRIN News, 1 November 2013
Harsher droughts and rising numbers of conflicts with farmers are threatening the future of pastoralism in the Sahel, but experts say that integrating crop and livestock systems can help sustain the livelihoods of herders and farmers.
– Policy framework for pastoralism in Africa: Securing, protecting and improving the lives, livelihoods and rights of pastoralist communities
Author: CTA, African Union
African pastoralism is defined by a high reliance on livestock as a source of economic and social wellbeing, and various types of strategic mobility to access water and grazing resources in areas of high rainfall variability. Pastoralism is found in all regions of Africa and in some regions, is the dominant livelihoods system. Pastoralists supply very substantial numbers of livestock to domestic, regional and international markets and therefore, make crucial – but often undervalued – contributions to national and regional economies in Africa.
– Analysis: Following the herd: why pastoralism needs better media coverage
Author: Mike Shanahan (International Institute for Environment and Development), April 2013
An IIED study analysed the content of stories from media outlets in Kenya, China and India and surveyed journalists in each country. It identified significant knowledge gaps and inter-country differences in how journalists perceive and portray pastoralists and pastoralism.
– Analysis: Global public policy narratives on the drylands and pastoralism
Author: Saverio Krätli (researcher on pastoral systems and Editor of the journal Nomadic Peoples, IUAES Commission on Nomadic Peoples, Oxford), April 2013
The global narratives that have dominated agricultural policy are built on crisis scenarios around meeting projected food demand, now complicated by global climate change and food price spikes. The role given to drylands and pastoralism in these narratives shows little consistency, except for characterising them as lacking in some way, for example: unproductive, resource scarce, fragile, marginal, remote, using resources that are uninteresting for other uses.
– Analysis: Moving beyond the rhetoric: the challenge of reform in Kenya’s drylands
Author: Michael Ochieng Odhiambo (Resource Conflict Institute (RECONCILE) in Nakuru, Kenya), April 2013
It is acknowledged that Kenya cannot achieve its development targets unless there are appropriate investments in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). Covering two-thirds of the country, the ASALs can make a significant contribution to national development.
– African herdsmen use mobile phones for drought alerts
Euractiv, 15 April 2013
East African livestock herders are using mobile phones to send early warnings of drought, part of a new effort to avert disasters like the one two years ago that required a massive EU humanitarian response.
– Mauritania: Foreign subsidies sour domestic milk industry
IRIN Africa, 01 October 2012
Women are pioneering Mauritania’s fledgling dairy industry and trying to get Mauritanians to support local small producers, but they face steep competition from the heavily subsidized European milk sector.
– Watch: East African pastoralists record their climate reality
CCAFS, CGIAR, 18 October 2012
Pastoralists in East Africa have been using video to share their stories and experiences about coping with seasonal and annual climatic variability as part of the project Pastoralist Transformations to Resilient Futures: Understanding Climate from the Ground Up, facilitated by researchers and film makers from the Colorado State University.
