Nickson Parmisa, a resident of Kitengela just outside Nairobi in Kenya, talks about the challenges of livestock herding in the face of climate change.
Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a highly contagious disease that affects cattle throughout most of sub Saharan Africa. It is one of the most serious livestock diseases with greatest impacts in pastoralist areas. Up to 15% of infected animals die: milk yields of infected cows drop by up to 90%: meat production is reduced, and infected draught oxen are less able to work. Existing vaccines have side effects and give limited protection. Research is underway at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to develop a more effective vaccine.
Significant progress has been made over the past decade or so in the development of policy and legislation that support the recognition of customary rights to land, with important legal rulings in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Sudan, and South Africa. At the same time, the strengthening of communities’ traditional rights to use resources has progressed through community forest reserves and community conservation areas.
Investment in land is not conflict-neutral, and given the history of violent conflict and mutual destabilization in the Horn of Africa there is potential for localized political grievances to turn into wider regional conflict. There is significant foreign investment in land in Ethiopia by parties from Africa and further afield. This is primarily geared towards producing for the export market, and is often concentrated in regions with limited political influence.
Investment in land is not conflict-neutral, and given the history of violent conflict and mutual destabilization in the Horn of Africa there is potential for localized political grievances to turn into wider regional conflict. There is significant foreign investment in land in Ethiopia by parties from Africa and further afield. This is primarily geared towards producing for the export market, and is often concentrated in regions with limited political influence.
The main objective of this paper is to provide a) a presentation of the diversity of land related conflicts in Africa, b) an analysis of underlying causes of conflicts and experiences in conflict resolution and, c) lessons learnt and best practices from the policy and legal responses and links with enhancement of land governance in the region.
News, views and experiences on securing rights to rangelands from East Africa and beyond.
The LAPSSET Corridor project, a major infrastructure development project that will run from Kenya to South Sudan and Ethiopia, will impact, positively or negatively, on the lives of more than 100 million people in the three countries. Indigenous peoples will potentially suffer the most negative impacts as a result of their having been historically marginalized economically, socially and politically. The recent discovery of oil in Turkana will add to the suffering of the Turkana peoples.
The Rangelands Observatory
The International Land Coalition (ILC) believes that a fair and effective monitoring of ongoing conversion and fragmentation of rangeland ecosystems is needed in order to provide a thorough understanding of the trends and their implications – and also to enhance informed and participatory decision making on land use and investments in rangelands, and on the trade-offs involved.
To this aim, a Rangeland Observatory (RO) project has been established.