Developing Legal & Policy Frameworks for Pastoral Mobility

Mobility is a vital strategy used by pastoralists to capitalise on the scarce availability of resources in variable environments, making pastoralism economically feasible and environmentally sustainable. Through mobility, pastoralists can produce animal-source foods in the rangelands and also provide various environmental benefits. Most policies have not kept up with new scholarship that acknowledges the importance of mobility to pastoralism. The handbook “Making way: developing legal and policy frameworks for pastoral mobility” (FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines 28, 2022, 84pp) by Michael Odhiambo and Pablo Manzano aims to guide the development of legal and policy frameworks for securing mobility for various pastoral production systems and practices.

The handbook calls for the legal recognition and securing of pastoral mobility as a way of safeguarding and facilitating a continuous stream of economic and social benefits for pastoralists, countries and the environment. It facilitates a deeper understanding of pastoral mobility through examples and case studies drawn from various parts of the world – including an overview of pastoralists’ own reasons for herd mobility in Eastern Africa – and identifies considerations to be borne in mind when legislating for mobility.