The PASTRES project has been extremely busy during 2018. This blog presents an overview of activities covered in the recent newsletter. If you haven’t already, do sign up for the bi-annual newsletter, here.
Following our launch event at IDS, Sussex in May, we have recruited three PASTRES PhD students who will be joining us at IDS, Sussex early next year. They will be joined by three more PhD students, also working on pastoralism issues. We have also selected a number of new honorary affiliates who will work closely with the project, contributing to the agenda.
Talks introducing the PASTRES project have taken place so far this year in Barcelona, Beijing, Brighton, Brussels, Florence, Marseille, Montpellier, Nairobi, Rome and Sassari. Visits to potential research sites in China, Italy, Kenya have been undertaken, organised by the country leads and involving the research students, together with Ian Scoones and Michele Nori.
Meet the PASTRES country leads
At the May launch workshop, short videos were recorded with our three country leads from China, Italy and Kenya, each reflecting on the project.
China
Video: Gongbuzeren (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu) discusses pastoralism in Qinghai and Sichuan.
Kenya
Video: Hussein Abdullahi Mahmoud (Technical University of Mombasa) discusses pastoral livelihoods and uncertainty in Kenya.
Italy
Antonello Franca (Institute for Animal Production in the Mediterranean) discusses lessons from the challenges faced by pastoralists in Sardinia.
Introducing the PASTRES PhD students
Through a highly competitive process, we have offered scholarships to three young researchers respectively from Chinese Tibet, northern Kenya and Sardinia, Italy. Joining them will be three others, working on pastoralism in Ethiopia, India and Tunisia. Meet our PhD students here.
Site visits: 3 blogposts on pastoralism & uncertainty
Over recent weeks, this blog features short reports of field visits to our three research sites, including a selection of photos. If you missed them, here are the links again:
Negotiating uncertainties on the Tibetan plateau in China
The changing dynamics of Sardinian pastoralism: why an uncertainty lens is important
Pastoralism under pressure in northern Kenya
New PASTRES affiliates
There was a large response to our affiliate programme and for 2018-19, we now have seven affiliates working on a range of topics. Meet them here.
The affiliate programme will re-open for a second round of applications in late 2019.
New publications
Three new journal articles have been published by researchers linked to PASTRES:
- Gongbuzeren, L. Huntsinger, and W. Li (2018) Rebuilding pastoral social-ecological resilience on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in response to changes in policy, economics, and climate, Ecology and Society 23(2):21 (open access)
- Caravani, M., (2018) ‘De-pastoralisation’ in Uganda’s Northeast: from livelihoods diversification to social differentiation, Journal of Peasant Studies, online first
- Lind, J. (2018) Devolution, shifting centre-periphery relationships and conflict in northern Kenya, Political Geography, 63, pp.135-147
PASTRES blog: news and comment
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Read the top 5 posts from 2018:
The vegan craze: what does it mean for pastoralists?
Why killing reindeer is poor science
Pastoralism under pressure in northern Kenya
Can pastoralists benefit from payments for ecosystem services?
Should we blame livestock for climate change?
Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience - PASTRES 