Restocking refugee nomads on the Horn of Africa

Repeated and lingering famine on the Horn of Africa has produced enormous pastoralist refugee populations in a region where livestock production is a major form of land use. Permanently settling destitute pastoralists into pursuits other than herding has a record of failure, can disrupt host land-uses causing social and ecological problems, and can deny utilization of very large grazing areas where pastoralism may be the only ecologically and economically sustainable land-use. Herd reconstitution needs to be considered an option in relief and rehabilitation programs for pastoralists. This paper examines a design where the most proven and immediate way of sustaining stockless pastoralists--farming--can be used to facilitate restocking objectives.
With data gathered in Somalia, estimates of livestock carrying capacity are linked with: characteristics of forage resources, land area, livestock units, and frequency of good, average, and poor (drought) water years, in order to explore the possibilities for incorporating restocking into refugee rehabilitation efforts.