Evolving pastoral & post-pastoral livelihoods in Eastern African rangelands

Over the past 20 years, the rangelands of Eastern Africa have experienced sweeping changes associated with growing human population, changes in land use, expanding livestock trade and greater investment by domestic and global capital. These trends have coincided with several large shocks that were turning points for how rangeland inhabitants make a living. As livelihoods in the region transform away from customary pastoral production systems, greater insight is needed into how these changes might affect poverty and vulnerability. The article “Newly evolving pastoral and post-pastoral rangelands of Eastern Africa” (2020) by Jeremy Lind et al (published in Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 10:24) reviews what is known about directions of livelihood change in the Eastern African rangelands, drawing on case studies of structural change in five settings. It considers the implications of the emergence of different livelihood mixes in the rangelands with regard to efforts to reduce poverty and vulnerability in these areas.

Social differences in the rangelands are likely to become even bigger as people seek different approaches to making a living but also as people’s needs and uses of keeping livestock multiply. Strengthening livelihoods in the rangelands requires a long-term perspective and interventions in multiple sectors at multiple scales. A big challenge is the gap in evidence and data across different systems and a lack of longitudinal data to track change over time. For a better understanding of the complex livelihood configurations of pastoralists and how these are changing, extensive data collection over a longer period than only two decades is needed.

Posted on 27 November 2020 in Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition