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Pastoralism is a livelihood whereby people depend upon herding domesticated livestock. In East Africa, pastoralists depend primarily upon cattle, sheep, donkeys, goats and camels— listed in order of least resilience as one moves into drier and more arid lowland areas. Pastoralists play an important, though often underappreciated, role in safeguarding animal genetic resources and indigenous breeds. In caring for their animals, pastoralists have a unique ability to utilize vast remote, droughtprone areas by regularly moving their herds to the best grazing areas. In fact, East Africa’s most celebrated large conservation areas exist today partly because of pastoralists’ capacity to traverse and defend grazing areas, which helped create buffer areas of reduced encroachment by agriculturalists.

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  1. Key Resource 2014-02-26 Pastoralism is a livelihood whereby people depend upon herding domesticated livestock. In East Africa, pastoralists depend primarily upon cattle, sheep, donkeys, goats and camels— listed in order of least resilience as one moves into drier and more arid lowland areas. Pastoralists play an...
  2. 2016-03-01 ECHO engaging in pastoralist initiatives When I joined ECHO in 2012 I had just worked in a project disseminating food security initiatives in 48 villages in northern Tanzania. We discovered some stark realities facing pastoralist communities; they were by far less food secure than...
  3. 2023-04-28 Maasai Pastoralists: Practices, Culture, and Role in Tanzanian Society Combating Hunger Among Pastoralists Intervention Descriptions forFood Security in Pastoral Communities Ferrocement Grain Storage Impact assessment of perennial vegetable training on attendees at hospitals and clinics
  4. 2023-04-28 This article summarizes research by Savannas Forever, conducted on behalf of Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Global Service Corps. Findings are shared with permission from Susan James, Director of Savannas Forever.
  5. 2023-04-28 Pastoralism has been for centuries an important component of living for multiple tribal groups in Africa, particularly for the Maasai. Historically tied to a nomadic life, pastoralism is changing.It is also in jeopardy, both as a cultural practice and as a way of sustaining a livelihood. This is...
  6. 2023-04-28 The following nine options can be searched on our website for more details as interventions. They are deemed by ECHO East Africa staff to be among the most impactful ways to sustainably alleviate hunger and the drudgery of rural pastoralist lives.
  7. With research, training and advocacy, we help build climate resilience, productivity and equity in the dryland areas of East Africa, Ethiopia, the Sahel and Sudan
  8. LEGS is underpinned by a livelihoods approach and is based on three livelihoods objectives: Providing immediate benefits to crisis-affected communities Protecting the livestock-related assets of crisis-affected communities Assisting the re-building of key assets among crisis-affected communities...
  9. The case studies in this collection highlight the value and benefits of pastoralism to the economy, the environment, and the culture of Africa. They demonstrate pastoralists’ essential role in land governance and their contribution to Africa’s sustainable development. Pastoralists live in the...
  10. Rural Solutions is a video series that highlights solutions to specific challenges that are common in rural areas of developing countries. As natural resources become more scarce, herders who migrate seasonally have to travel long distances to find water and grazing land. Here is a solution to...
  11. 2016-03-01 Approximately 30 of the ECHO Symposium attendees participated in this dialogue. First, we established some basic definitions, and noted that poverty and political marginalization has affected men and women differently. While all pastoralists suffer discrimination, loss of land, degraded natural...
  12. 2016-03-02 Session: World Renew supports innovative ways to combat climate change. The presentation will dwell on lessons learnt from Conservation Agriculture promotion in pastoralist areas which will encompass adaptation, scaling up and extension methodologies based upon lessons learned from the field....
  13. 2016-03-02 Session: Livestock is the main source of livelihoods for pastoralist in Marsabit County with 80% of the population directly depending on them. Food for the hungry supported and established 13 livestock markets in Marsabit. The markets provided great platform where herders, traders, government and...
  14. 2018-03-07 Towards middle and high income for the people in the Ngorongoro District, Tanzania
  15. 2014-03-20
  16. 2019-02-13 Session: Decreasing agricultural land in Shinyanga and neighboring regions has forced a large number of pastoralists to migrate to southern Tanzania especially Morogoro region. This has led to increasing conflict between pastoralists and farmers particularly in Kilosa. Land use planning offers an...
  17. 2018-03-08
  18. 2018-03-06
  19. 2016-03-02 Session: The FAOs Pastoralist Hub and FAO experiences on radio communication / extension in pastoral areas have overcome common extension hurdles. Come to hear about it. Biographical data: Badi Besbes has worked with FAO-Kenya livestock sector. Pastoralist Knowledge Hub
  20. 2016-03-03 Session: Western societies used schools, and culturally blind policies to absorb the native American and Australian aborigine populations into mainstream society. Since colonial times until today most governments use schools and district offices to implement policies with agricultural biases with...
  21. 2017-02-09 This session will demonstrate Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) as a low-cost, sustainable land-restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers in developing countries by increasing food, fodder and livelihood production, while enhancing...
  22. Across the Horn Africa, pastoralist areas have been one of the most persistent and difficult challenges for governments, and development and humanitarian agencies. Although often viewed as physically remote, universally poor, and subject to droughts and conflicts, in reality these areas can also...
  23. 2014-03-20
  24. Abstract, Pastoralism, 2017 December Camel health management has implications for public health and camel product trade. After liberalization of the veterinary service, current camel health management in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALS) of Kenya and its implications for public health is not...
  25. 2014-03-20
  26. 2018-03-06
  27. Abstract,Ecological Processes, 2017 December Introduction Experiences of low rainfall and frequent droughts have had enormous impacts on livestock production and pastoralists’ livelihoods in southern Ethiopia. The Borana pastoralists are dependent on livestock husbandry with the dominance of...
  28. Abstract, UN Environment and GRID-Arendal, 2019 Pastoralism is practiced by millions of people worldwide. It has roots in every part of the world and back thousands of years to the beginning of agriculture. But while pastoral societies have existed for millennia, we still don’t know that much...
  29. Pastoralists produce food in the world’s harshest environments, and pastoral production supports the livelihoods of rural populations on almost half of the world’s land. They have traditionally suffered from poor understanding, marginalization and exclusion from dialogue. The Pastoralist...
  30. We know that social and economical changes modify societies, roles, patterns. We need to keep the pace. Yet, let us try no to destroy the good traditions, roots, families….gender is still a worldwide issue. Pastoralism, Our Ideas, Our Future
  31. Savannas Forever Tanzania (SFTZ) is a non-profit Tanzanian research and development organization that provides on-the-ground expertise in East Africa for: conductingbaseline and endline surveys local management of specialty projects andlogistical supportfor University-based principal...
  32. Ngorongoro District, part of the Serengeti Ecosystem witnessed a human population growth from approximately 25,000 in the early sixties to 200,000 people in 2016, predominantly pastoralist Maasai. Pastoralism as we know it today can be combined with photo tourism and game hunting activities for...
  33. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Barick Leya
  34. The Members of the Coalition worktogether to lobby their national governments, European Union (EU) bodies (Council, Parliament and Commission) as well as other policy-formulating bodies/ agencies in Europe (e.g. the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva and the FAO in Rome) to...
  35. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Jeremy Lowney
  36. Lightning Talk, 2022 ECHO East Africa PastoralistSymposium, March 29, 2022 Presenter: Peadar Brehony
  37. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Anna Sirikwa
  38. Lightning Talk, 2022 East Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Cathy Watson
  39. This 8-page leaflet, practical for use in the field and easy to read, helps pastoralists understand markets for animals and milk. It gives background information on types of products, market chains, adding value and different types of markets. Marketing processes are clearly outlined, along with...
  40. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Ritha Tarimo
  41. Session:Honeyguide is in the business of conservation, central to our approach is the idea that community conservation areas can succeed when run as social enterprises, meaning they are environmentally, financially, and socially sustainable. Pastoral communities in northern Tanzania have...
  42. 2018-03-08 This worksheet was used at the 3rd ECHO East Africa PastoralistSymposium by a group generating a joint voluntary plan of action includingpolicy and legislation inhibiting or needed, social and cultural approaches that inhibit or could add value,economic tools,and natural resources governance.
  43. 2018-03-08 I have spent over fifty years working in East African Rangelands studying wildlife in National Parks and ranches or helping pastoralists in northern Kenya and consulting in Tanzania. The situation has changed unpredictably and dramatically since my original research in the Queen Elizabeth...
  44. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Herry Kirimbai
  45. The findings and recommendations in this Toolkit were identified based on a meta-review of program evaluations and scholarly research in French and English, supplemented by a series of key informant interviews with program implementers. The Toolkit was validated through review by an Advisory...
  46. This How-to-doNote (HTDN) onGender and Pastoralism complements theIFAD Toolkitalong with the 2018HTDN on Pastoralism, which highlights the importance of gender in pastoral production systems. ThisHTDN builds on these priorintroductions by highlighting important issues and the tools to use to...
  47. This How-to-do Note focuses on how conflicts over land and natural resources in pastoral areas can be prevented or, if already present,transformed into positive outcomes.It identifies why land tenure is a complex issue within pastoralism, discusses the combination of factors that are contributing...
  48. 2023-01-20 In the drylands and mountains where pastoralists live, uncertainty is everywhere. In these settings, negotiating access to resources, navigating volatile markets, making use of varying social relations in times of stress, and responding to conflict and complex political dynamics is essential if...
  49. 2016-12-20 Listening to pastoralists Pastoral Parliament - a platform to be heard and seen Migrant shepherds sustain pastoralism in the Mediterannean Pastoralists' breeds represent generations of knowledge Pastoralist women have the capacity to lead Adapting traditional land goverance in Somalia...
  50. 2016-06-20 Making millets matter in Madhya Pradesh Real solutions are in the diversity of food and farming Lupin regains ground in Central Ecuador Farmers' firm grip on diversity Heritage grains - digging our roots, planting our seeds Lining food choice with biodiversity Fair and sustainable expansion of...
  51. Access Agriculture Training Video Examples of how the two communities can interact to benefit each other from Niger and Mali. From Mali the arrangements of the Barahogon Association are explained, including how disputes are resolved. Available Languages: Arabic,Ateso,Bambara,English,French,...
  52. ‘“Business as usual” is no longer an option for a food-secure future. Pastoralism can be an innovative system: a time-tested, undervalued alternative to high-input and resource-intensive farming, and a valuable lesson for the much needed evolution towards ‘farming with nature’, with...
  53. Session:The presentation will be a reflection on experiences and lessons learned from involvement with pastoralist communities since 1999. Presenter: Eamonn Brehony and Alais Morindat
  54. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Hannah Longole, Executive Director Ateker Cultural Center, Uganda
  55. Lightning Talk, ECHOEast Africa Pastoralist Symposium, March 29, 2022. Presenter: Loupa Pius
  56. Session:The Bakarwal sheep and goat herders of Kashmir migrate 400km each year, with their families and their herds, between the warm lowlands of Jammu, and the lush pastures of the Himalayas. This was always a difficult journey, but recent years have brought increased challenges, with many...