The sixth comic in our ‘Uncertain Worlds’ series looks at insurance – which is increasingly offered to pastoralists as a way to protect against losses from drought and other hazards.
Livestock insurance usually focuses on a single hazard, with premiums paid by an individual and with risks assessed in a delimited area. However, insurance is not always a good fit for highly uncertain environments.
Alongside insurance, there are other ways for pastoralists to respond to uncertainties, based on longer traditions of collective moral economy. For example, pastoralists may share and loan livestock with family and friends, spreading the risk. Mobility is also an important strategy, requiring skilled herding and knowledge of where grazing and water can be found.
Although insurance works for some pastoralists, it’s too expensive for others, and other forms of solidarity and mutual support will continue to be important.
Read the comic
Read the article
Johnson L., Mohamed T., Scoones I. and Taye M. (2023) Uncertainty in the drylands: Rethinking in/formal insurance from pastoral East Africa. Environmental and Planning A: Economy and Space, online first
About the Uncertain Worlds series
What are you uncertain about? If you can’t control or predict the future, how can you prepare for it? Uncertainty can be scary, but can it also be a source of hope or opportunity?
The PASTRES project is sharing seven comics in a series called ‘Uncertain Worlds’. It explores stories about uncertainty in the worlds of pastoralism, economics and finance, pandemics, migration, humanitarian aid, insurance and knowledge networks. Many of the comics draw on lessons from pastoralists, whose ways of life can help to challenge our assumptions of how to respond to the unpredictable and unknown.
The comics have been created by the artist Daniel Locke in collaboration with the PASTRES team. Each comic is linked to a peer-reviewed academic article produced in collaboration with the PASTRES project.
Exhibition: Uncertain Worlds
Large scale printed versions of the comics will be on show in October 2023 at an exhibition, Uncertain Worlds.
The exhibition will be in Brighton, UK from 25-29 October 2023. Opening hours are 11am – 5pm and entry is free.
Address:
Phoenix Art Space
10-14 Waterloo Place,
Brighton, BN2 9NB
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View website
There will be a launch event on the evening of 24 October: email n.oxley@ids.ac.uk for details.
Find out more
For an overview and links to all the comics when they are published, visit the Uncertain Worlds page.
Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience - PASTRES 