Pastoralists in east Africa, once seen as backward and illiterate and criticised by policy makers for their supposed mismanagement of herds and natural resources, are now perceived as rational, productive and highly skilled livestock keepers. Yet, how can rising poverty, extreme levels of conflict, and competition for land be overcome? Would protecting livestock assets by improving livestock health bring nutritional and social benefits, as research by Save the Children suggests?

Pastoralists in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Uganda number around 16.5 million. In these arid and semi-arid environments, human survival largely depends on the capacity of livestock to convert vegetation inedible to humans into nutritious food for people. Milk is the most important of these foods, especially for children. However, livestock are not only providers of food and income, they are also the focal point for social and cultural interaction and feature strongly in indigenous social support mechanisms. A major challenge is to support pastoralists’ traditional livestock herding skills, which enable sustainable land use, while simultaneously developing services such as education, health and diversifying options for income generation.

Pastoralism is constantly adapting to changing economic, social and political forces and should be recognised as a modern, not a ‘backward’, way of life. Further findings suggest that:

• Lessons can be learned from unsuccessful, ‘top-down’, technocratic pastoral development projects. Projects should focus more on empowering local people and supporting institutional reform.
• Community-based animal health projects can be a useful first point of contact with pastoral communities often wary of outsiders, leading to a wider understanding of pastoralists’ needs.
• Community-based animal health work can also provide opportunities to learn how best to design services around pastoralists’ need to herd livestock, such as mobile education services rather than western-style schooling, and designing curricula relevant to their livelihoods such as animal husbandry or plant ecology.
• Linking animal and human health care has had some short-term success. Although still being tested, this approach could lead to the development of community-based health workers who combine human and animal health knowledge.
• Ways of collecting child-specific information on impacts should be developed in partnership with communities during a process of shared learning and problem solving.

Although community-level decision-making and control of resources are key to sustainable development, appropriate policy and legislative frameworks are also essential at the national level. Suggestions for policy include:

• strengthening the historically weak links between NGO animal health projects and central veterinary authorities
• encouraging closer collaboration between NGOs and government to promote appropriate institutional reform and ensure that private clinical services are supported by effective public sector regulation
• improving links between medical doctors and veterinarians for better control of diseases that affect humans and animals.

Source(s):
‘The Herd Instinct. Children and Livestock in the Horn of Africa’ by Andy Catley, Save the Children Working Paper #21 (1999)

id21 Research Highlight: 31 May 2001

Further Information:
Andy Catley
CAPE Unit
PACE/OAU/IBAR
PO Box 30786
Nairobi
Kenya

Tel: +254 2 226447
Fax: +254 2 253680
Contact the contributor: andy.catley@oau-ibar.org

Other related links:
Refer to ILRI for the latest research on livesotck

LEAD focuses on natural resources as affected by livestock production while alleviating poverty

IIED aims to end global poverty by efficient management of the world's natural resources.

FAO concentrates on Animal Production and Health

ODI has research on Pastoral Development