Indigenous Affairs 3-4/09: Generating Wealth from Environmental Variability: the economics of pastoralism in East Africa's drylands

Productivity in the face of environmental variability and resilience to periodic but unpredictable cycles of drought and flood are built into pastoral livelihoods, institutions and knowledge systems. Yet poverty, environmental degradation and conflict persist in many pastoral areas of Africa. This is, in large measure, a direct result of inappropriate policy and development interventions. Enduring perceptions of pastoralism as an economically inefficient, and environmentally destructive land-use systems continue to drive rangeland and livestock policy. But these perceptions are not evidence-based. They are sustained by ignorance of the dynamics of dryland environments and pastoral livelihood systems, and the absence of an economic valuation framework in which to assess the true contribution of pastoralism to local and national economies. Furthermore, policy design and practice are not sufficiently informed by past failure or designed with the participation of pastoral communities.