Protecting livestock mobility routes

During the learning initiative 2012 of the programme “Making Rangelands Secure”, lessons about protecting livestock mobility routes (corridors) were summarised in this useful 4-page brief Protecting Livestock Mobility Routes: Lessons Learned directed at Ethiopian decision-makers. The brief outlines why livestock mobility is important, what the challenges to mobility and the impacts of not maintaining mobility are, ways to protect migration routes (based on examples from Niger and the Sudan) and the implications for livestock production in Ethiopia:

The protection of livestock corridors is a must if pastoral production is to be optimised. Livestock corridors need to be protected through and around commercial farms, and across areas where enclosures and small-scale agriculture have been established. In some cases, it may be necessary that fences and/or small-scale farms are removed or relocated. Participatory rangeland mapping and community action planning are good starting points for this and need to include all stakeholders in order to find effective and sustainable solutions that support the different land uses in dryland areas. Appropriate governance structures will also need to be established that can ensure enforcement and prevent conflict, once migration routes have been established and demarcated.

Posted on 24 September 2013 in Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure