Why should we put pastoralismback on the agenda ?

Michele NoriEuropeAID E6 – Quality Support

natural resources – rural development

Contents

This presentation aims at answering these questions:

• Who are the pastoralists ?

• Which dynamics have characterised pastoral regions in recent decade ?

• How could these be redressed ?

• What elements should be considered in such process ?

WHO ARE THE PASTORALISTSPastoralist are the communities living on arid lands through

mobile livestock keeping

1) LIVESTOCK as the main livelihood source; the vital ‘technology’ that allows translating land resources into valuable products for people.

2) MOBILITY as the way to make the best use of marginal natural resources, while enabling their recovery through time.

3) FLEXIBLE arrangements regulating access to resources; common property rights, negotiations

Pastoralism is an entire way of life, involving ecological, political, economic, technological, cultural and social dimensions.

PASTORALISMsupports some 200 million pastoral households

covers 25 percent of the world’s land area provides for valuable products (protein of milk & meat, fibres)

from marginal lands

Regional zonation of pastoral systems

Andes

North America

Circumpolar

Central Asia

India

Mediterranean Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Zone

Llama, alpaca

Sheep, cattle

Reindeer

Yak, camel, horse, sheep, goats

Camel, cattle, sheep, goats

Small ruminants (sheep & goats)

Cattle, camel, sheep & goats

Main animal species

Touareg (W Africa) – Kuchi (Iran)Photos: IFAD

Mongolia – TibetPhotos: M.Nori & IFAD

Bedouin (Jordan) – AndesPhotos: IFAD

Horn & MediterraneanPhotos: M.Nori & IFAD

HARSH ENVIRONMENTS

Arid territories (drylands or highlands) with extreme climatic patterns. Water limiting factor, not allowing continuous crop cultivation.

3 main characterizing features:

- Limitations of overall resource endowment / low average biomass production - limited productivity

- Variability of resource distribution through space and time – patchy in time and space

- Unpredictability of resource endowment and high degree of risk of extreme climatic events

Rainfall index variation in the Sahelian region.source: Yann l’Hôte et Al.(2001)

socio-political marginality - 1FRONTIER LANDS

• Geo-political borders (i.e. mountains or deserts),

• ‘divide et impera’, nations mix and communities divided

• Limited representativity• Areas remote from mainstream central state

decision making – SAPs• High Transaction Costs• Poor access to services and infrastructure

socio-political marginality – 2 (MIS)-CONCEIVED AS UNSUSTAINABLE

• Economically unviable –Herskovits’ “cattle complex”, 1926Poor contributors to local economy

• Environmental degradation –Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons”, 1968Culprits for Desertification, UN, 1980sLivestock long Shadow, 2006

Backward agricultural system*Economically irrational & irrelevantEnvironmental damaging

Pastoral modernization…Pastoral development to be conceived as the END of mobility and communal land access

(SEDENTARISATION paradigm), And the PRIVATISATION of resources (rangelands,

livestock*) meaning the end of pastoralism.

• Unfavourable policies (land, food, trade)• Market dynamics (decreasing ToTs)• External appetites for rangelands – land grabs*

grazing reserves, regulating herd sizes, group ranchingranchingranchingranching, land titling, herders’organizations

new breeds, forage production, feeding supplementation, animal health / veterinary systems, availability of groundwatergroundwatergroundwatergroundwater

ActionsActionsActionsActions

efforts aimed at readdressing range management

technical aspects of the livestock production system

FocusFocusFocusFocus

1980s to 1990s1950s to 1970sPeriod

Development approaches in pastoral areas

The current large number of reiterated emergency interventions in pastoral areas stands as the best indicator of the failure of past development approaches(Humanitarian Food Assistance meeting on 16/6/2009)

Current trends – 1GROWING FOOD INSECURITY

THE SILENT HAZARD: droughtReported Death of Natural Hazards globally (1974-2003): 2.066.273 persons

Source Hoyois und Guha Sapir (2004); courtesy prof. HG Brauch, UNU-EHS Berlin

Current trends – 2UPSCALING CONFLICT

• Poor Governance – Fragile States

• Recent trends: where civilizations clash:Darfur, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, SSudan, Middle East, etc…

• But also at smaller scale: Ogaden, South Omo, Loliondo, Karamoja, etc…

Current trends – 3LOWEST HDI - MDGs

• From better off to those ranking amongst the poorest and most destitute agriculture peoples in the world (World Bank, 2009)

• A number of development syndromes: poverty, desertification, famine, food and social insecurity, migration, conflict and recently insurgency

• Most excluded / hardest to reach from primary social services (UNICEF/WHO, 2005)

• Regions with deepest endemic poverty, and with the most vulnerable people (CGIAR, 2010)

• Not effective integration into state and market dynamics

Currently HD and MDGs indexes and are at their lowest in such regions (ex.Kenya)

Failure & NeglectDuring the 1980s and the 1990s a series of reports clearly showed that the pastoral sector

experienced the greatest concentration of failed development projects in the world.

Livelihood conditions worsened, rangelands got degraded: Somewhere something had gone wrong

Immediate consequences:

1) pastoralists exited the development agenda (20 years ago) - international

2) consistent retrenchment of public investments in marginal areas under SAP - national

3) undermining of pastoral resource management patterns.

Policy frames:

1) No policy (no State or neglect)

2) Unfavourable (e.g. Ethiopia, Uganda)

3) Favourable but not implemented (e.g. Sahelian Pastoral Code)

4) Efforts for implementation (e.g. Mongolia, Kenya)

TheModernisation through Sedentarisationparadigm shifted toDisaster and Emergency

Recent acknowledgements - 1

• Effective way of producing food (animal proteins) on marginal lands

• Ensuring livelihoods & food security to most marginalised communities

• Contributions with livestock * environmental services (tourism, water, CO2…)

Recent acknowledgements - 2 • Pastoralism is not an intermediate development

stage but rather the result of a process of specialisation in marginal ecosystems

• An effective means of coping with a variable and unpredictable climate

• Actually the best possible system to produce while protecting drylands

• These contributions are likely to become even more important in a Climate Change perspective.

ECONOMIC CONSISTENCYContribution of livestock to GDP in SSAfrica

8050 35 80 25 % Agric. GDP

Somalia Kenya EthiopiaSudan Chad

29.8 25 41,6 37,3 70% AgricGDP

Niger BurkinaFaso

Mali Senegal Mauri-tania

…despite• Other important contributions not-

accounted for, as through informal channels

• Only 3 countries’ PRSP indicate investments in livestock for povertyreduction

• Average GoV budget to the sector is far below 3% (Maputo Decl.)

• Most of this money going to pig and poultry

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSISTENCY

• Arid ecosystems functioning at disequilibrium: rangelands are resilient

• Overgrazing not a main problem, rather larger climatic shifts

• Environmental degradation higher when mobility is hampered / people settle

• Important enviromental services: drylands & mountains management, water, biodiversity (i.e. natural parks)

• Extensive livestock production with lower ecological footprint

• African and Asian grasslands have vast carbon sequestration potential (FAO, 2009).

In a Climate Change perspective…as to IPCC: increase in temperature and extreme events,

raising variability and unpredictability

• Groups inhabiting most exposed and fragile ecosystems (i.e. mountainous and drylands)

• Potential skills to tackle CChange implicationsItself an adaptive strategy

• Many oil resources found in drylandsCompetition and conflict

• Important role of properly managed grasslands as carbon sinks as well as biodiversity stocks

Reverting cause - effect relationshipsroom for discussion

Desertification:Culprits or victims ?

Conflict: Land encroachment, frontiers, manipulation ?

Famines:marginal lands, limited investments, misconceived policies, unfair markets ?

CChange: doomed or better equipped*?

Operational implications

Cost/benefit analysis- Political long term engagement

High transaction costs- Importance of communities active involvement

Mobile livelihoods- Innovative approaches of service delivery; ICT options

Access to resources- Governance matters

Exposure to climate vagaries- LRRD and regional approach

RESHAPING LANDSCAPES triggers for change

• Population growth• Livestock Revolution& fair market remuneration • Climate Change• Land grabs• CDM and carbon finance mechanisms

• Good governance• Political decentralization • Regional dimension• Effective ‘civil society’• Developing ICTs

… most doomed ?

Loss of right and lands

High TCs for monitoring

Climate ChangeBetter equipped OR…

Risk-Coping strategies

Carbon-related mechanisms

Academic and political acknowledgements

High TCs for monitoring

Environmental externalitiesPositive impact of properly managed grasslands on: biodiversity, water & Co2 sequestration

ENVIRONMENT

Limited implementation risks

Problems between countries

Ex. Soviet Union

RegionalisationOptions for cross-border moves for grazing and marketing

Ex. EC, ECOWAS, IGAD

Sub-dividing

Politicization

Conflict

DecentralisationLocal, customary institutions

Empowering communities

Reduce TCs

GOVERNANCE

High Transaction Costs

SPS: health requirements, quality standards, WTO / Gov barriers

Terms of Trade dynamics

MARKET INTEGRATION

Livestock Revolution potentials

Producing animal proteins in marginal lands

Acknowledge environmental externalities

Thank you for your attentionmichele.nori@ec.europa.eu