This paper aims to learn from the household survival strategies in Ethiopia that have evolved to manage diverse disaster hazards with a view that such strategies can inform more effective disaster preparedness, relief, recovery and prevention, policies and interventions.This report describes the systems that are in place that are designed for the early detection of crisis, the nature of humanitarian responses these systems have induced, and the outlook for the coming year.Recommendations arising from the research include:early warning/monitoring information systems need to operate independe

This report presents final findings from the baseline data collection exercise conducted for Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) Adaptation Programme in Africa. The GFCS programme, having a focus on agriculture, food security, health and disaster risk reduction, is implemented in Tanzania and Malawi.

This article looks at the changes which are taking place in the Syrian semi-nomadic bedouin flocks' feeding and migration patterns, and the historical reasons for these changes. Most of the discussion will focus on three steppe-based villages in northern Syria, where the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) undertook a three-year survey between 1978 and 1981, and where a follow-up study was done this year.

This study represents an initial attempt to assess patterns of displacement related to droughts in selected countries of the Horn of Africa, specifically the border regions of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

This paper examines the effect of climate change on pastoralist conflict in Africa. The rangelands of East Africa is particularly vulnerable to drought, which is associated with climate change. In this respect, the paper focuses its analysis on changes in resource availability contrasting cases of abundance and scarcity. The authors clarify that the role of resources is further contextualised by competing notions of property rights, and the role of the state in defining property and associated rights.

This paper makes a case for increased policy attention to pastoralists in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper presents:estimates of the numbers of agro-/pastoral populations globallytheir livestock and their contribution to national economiesthe incidence of poverty among agro-/pastoral populations.The author examines the causes and dynamics of poverty among pastoral populations in Africa drawing on the sustainable livelihoods framework and focusing on vulnerability to shocks.

Governments and scientists have long regarded the pastoralists’ way of life as a cause of environmental degradation. This belief is rooted in a misunderstanding of the pastoralist way of life and is reflected in national policies on land tenure and resource access in Kenya. The area of land controlled by pastoralists has been steadily reduced, and pastoralists have been encouraged to give up their nomadic way of life and settle, leading to conflict between pastoralist groups and other land users and damage to the environment.

This paper explores the extent of Chinese resettlement policies in Tibet. It focuses on the impact of these policies on Tibetan herders from a human rights perspective and based on its findings puts together a number of recommendations to international donors, the United Nations (UN) and the Peoples republic of China. Since 2000, the Chinese government has been implementing resettlement, land confiscation, and fencing policies in pastoral areas inhabited primarily by Tibetans, drastically curtailing their livelihood.

This document reports on a meeting of a group of pastoralists from throughout Iran. Over recent decades Iran’s pastoralists have been experiencing changes that have totally altered the social, political and economic landscapes through which they must navigate. This meeting intended to discover the impact of these changes on local breeds.The dialogue was facilitated by Taghi Farvar and Maryam Rahmanian of Iran’s Centre for Sustainable Development (CENESTA)

This article examines the complexity of demarcating the Kenya-Sudan-Ethiopia tri-junctional point known as the Ilemi Triangle. By analysing why, until recently, the Ilemi has been ‘unwanted’ and hence not economically developed by any regional government, the article aims to historically elucidate differences of perception and significance of the area between the authorities and the local herders.

Pastoralism is a global phenomenon. In Africa, where 66 per cent of is used for pastoral production, it is recognised as part of the continent’s cultural heritage. More than just a means of production, it is a way of life intrinsically linked to the identity of the individuals and communities that practise it. Given their traditionally nomadic lifestyle, the fact that pastoralists can become internally displaced is often overlooked. Some even question whether it can happen at all.

This article explores the breakdown of complementarity between agriculture and livestock in the Kishi Beiga area in the north of Burkina Faso. The article suggests that the the two systems now compete for land and local management systems have broken down.This article discusses a joint GTZ and Government of Burkina Faso initiative to improve natural resource management and people's livelihoods.