Rangelands throughout sub-Saharan Africa are currently undergoing two major pressures: climate change (through altered rainfall and seasonality patterns) and habitat fragmentation (brought by land use change driven by land demand for agriculture and conservation). Here we explore these dimensions, investigating the impact of land use change decisions, by pastoralists in southern Kenya rangelands, on human well-being and animal densities using an agent-based model.

This paper addresses pastoral resilience by drawing out the coping strategies and mechanisms utilized by the Maasai Pastoralists through a food system approach, based on the study findings of an anthropological study of pastoralism as a food system in Laikipia County, Rift Valley, Kenya. The co-existence and interactions of pastoralism as a food system with other types of food systems in Laikipia, such as large-scale horticulture, justified the selection of the study site.

La transhumance transfrontalière est trop souvent réduite à une activité génératrice de conflits qu’il est possible de régler très facilement en fermant les frontières. Cette note aux décideurs montre une réalité beaucoup plus complexe. La mobilité pastorale en Afrique de l’Ouest représente un apport économique de plusieurs dizaines de milliards de Fcfa chaque année dans toutes les zones d’accueil. Dans une région troublée sur le plan sécuritaire et confrontée au défi de l’emploi et de la pauvreté, la dimension économique, sociale et politique de la transhumance est importante à préserver.

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes are gaining popularity as an environmental and development policy tool. Spurred by environmental motives, different financial and non-financial incentive schemes are designed to create positive social and environmental impact. Although the experience of PES implementation is relatively significant in the agricultural, forestry and to a certain degree marine sector, the application of PES for pastoralists in rangeland settings is limited.

Background: Diarrhoea is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the under-five children in low-income countries. Despite improvements in water and sanitation coverage, studies show that diarrhoea is still a major public health problem in Ethiopia. This study was designed to determine the magnitude and risk factors of diarrhoea in the agricultural and agro-pastoralist communities of the rural Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2013. Interview and questionnaire were the main data gathering instruments used in the study.

Land is often a critical aspect of conflict: it may be a root cause or trigger conflicts or may become an issue as the conflict progresses. Conflicts lead to forced evictions; the people who are displaced by conflict need somewhere to live and some land to farm or to graze their animals, often leading to further disputes over the use of land and other resources.