CELEP’s understanding of pastoralism

In 2020–21, initially the CELEP core group and then other CELEP members and partners engaged in intensive discussion to come to a common understanding of pastoralism. This discussion was based on the pastoral development orientation framework that Saverio Krätli developed for MISEREOR.

In the 3-pager entitled “Pastoralists turn variability into food”, CELEP’s understanding of pastoralism is summarised and some conclusions are drawn about what this means for the way we engage in lobbying and advocacy activities. There is also a 1.5-page version of the paper that outlines only the absolute basics in understanding pastoralism.

Based on CELEP’s perspective on pastoralism, this Policy note on pastoralists’ land rights / Note d’orientation sur les droits fonciers des pasteurs calls for seven priority actions to meet the challenges facing Eastern African pastoralists’ use of rangelands, which would equally apply to pastoralists in many other parts of the world:

1. Guarantee in the law pastoralists’ right of access to land for their livelihoods.
2. Protect mobility as a right fundamental to the livelihood of pastoralists.
3. Expand legal frameworks to represent the full spectrum of pastoralists’ land rights.
4. Identify, acknowledge, and register pastoralists’ customary land rights that have been overlooked during the various stages of land-tenure formalisation.
5. Recognise pastoralism as a form of land development.
6. Prevent further conversion of pastoralist lands to other uses that exclude pastoralism.
7. Involve pastoralist communities in all processes in which they are stakeholders.

Posted on 29 November 2024 in CELEP Documents, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition, Value of Pastoralism