Pastoral areas are often some of the poorest regions in terms of levels of income, ownership of assets and access to services. Vulnerability to shocks and stresses is high. Recurrent disasters have often resulted in large populations requiring humanitarian and social protection support.
Governments and aid agencies alike often write-off pastoral areas, arguing for major transformations, with programmes of urbanisation, settlement and alternative livelihoods advocated as part of poverty reduction programmes. However, such responses often fail to engage with the underlying causes of vulnerability and proceed with a poor understanding of pastoral livelihoods.
This lecture by Ian Scoones examines different approaches to poverty and well-being, including sustainable livelihoods approaches, as well as social protection, insurance and disaster risk reduction. The importance of pastoral ‘moral economies’ is emphasised alongside the socio-political dimensions of vulnerability, coping and responses in pastoral settings. Poverty and vulnerability are clearly major challenges in pastoral areas, especially as societies become more differentiated. The big question is: what sort of responses make sense today?
Watch the lecture
Questions
- What should be contained in a ‘livelihoods assessment’ of a pastoral area? In standard approaches, what elements do you think are often missed?
- What are the formal measures (from the state or external agencies) that are taken to reduce poverty and vulnerability in the pastoral areas you know? What are their pros and cons?
- What are the aspects of ‘traditional’ moral economy to improve coping and welfare? How is this changing?
Readings
For perspectives on an extended ‘livelihoods perspective’, watch Ian Scoones’ lecture on sustainable livelihoods and development, and read the 2015 book Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development, especially chapters 2 and 3.
- Aklilu, Y. and Catley, A. (2010) Mind the Gap: Commercialization, Livelihoods and Wealth Disparity in Pastoralist Areas of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Feinstein International Centre, Tufts University.
- Buchanan‐Smith, M., Davies, S. and Petty, C., 1994. Food security: let them eat information. IDS Bulletin, 25(2): 69-80.
- Catley, A. (2017) Pathways to Resilience in Pastoralist Areas: A Synthesis of Research in the Horn of Africa. Boston: Feinstein International Center, Tufts University.
- Cullis, A and Catley, A. (2012) Money to burn? Comparing the costs and benefits of drought responses in pastoralist areas of Ethiopia. The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance.
- Devereux, S. (2006). Vulnerable Livelihoods in Somali Region, Ethiopia, IDS Research Report No. 57. Sussex, UK: Institute for Development Studies.
- Little, P, McPeak, J, Barrett, C and Kristjanson, P. (2008) Challenging orthodoxies: Understanding poverty in pastoral areas of East Africa. Development and Change 39(4): 587–611. See also: Little, P.D., Smith, K., Cellarius, B.A., Coppock, D.L. and Barrett, C. (2001) Avoiding disaster: diversification and risk management among East African herders. Development and Change, 32(3): 401-433.
- Lind, J., Sabates-Wheeler, R., Hoddinott, J.F. and Taffesse, A.S. (2018) Targeting social transfers in pastoralist societies: Ethiopia’s productive safety net programme revisited. IFPRI Paper 124. Washington DC: IFRPI.
- Mude, A.G. (2016) Incubating a promising financial solution for the drylands: Toward sustainable index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) for pastoralists. Presentation. Nairobi: ILRI.
- Sabates-Wheeler, R., Lind, J. and Hoddinott, J. (2013) Implementing social protection in agro-pastoralist and pastoralist areas: how local distribution structures moderate PSNP outcomes in Ethiopia. World Development, 50: 1-12.
- Scott, J.C., (1977) The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Swift, J., (1989) Why are rural people vulnerable to famine? IDS Bulletin, 20(2): 8-15.
- Tache, B. and Sjaastad, E. (2010) Pastoralists’ Conceptions of Poverty: An Analysis of Traditional and Conventional Indicators from Borana, Ethiopia. World Development, 38(8): 1168–1178.
Photo credit: Masresha Taye
Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience - PASTRES 