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Pastoralism - Report on the Status of Pastoralism

Background

As part of the Regional Pastoral Programme in the Horn and Eastern Africa, Oxfam is initiating an innovative policy-oriented research project called the Report on the Status of Pastoralism (ROSP).This project is designed to improve the quality and accessibility of information on pastoralism, in four countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

ROSP has arisen due to concerns over the quality and accessibility of information and research on pastoralism, and pastoral populations, and particularly on the ways in which they are changing or responding to poverty reduction strategies. Much of the data currently available are based on one-off surveys, which do not capture change, and are rarely presented in ways which have an impact on policy or practice. At the same time, the ROSP is also a response to calls from pastoralists and their representatives for greater recognition of the contribution that pastoralism makes to national economies and for planning and development that is based on pastoral realities and needs.

Aims

To present good-quality, long-term analysis on pastoralism and pastoral populations, which captures the trends and changes that affect them, and which is understandable to a wide audience.
To build networks of interested partners within government, non-government organisations, Southern research institutes, and Community Based Organisations in order to encourage information sharing and to improve the links between information, policy making, and development practice.
To support the capacity building of government and Southern research institutions in order to understand and analyse pastoral livelihoods and populations, and to encourage the adoption of research and analysis methods which are more relevant to mobile pastoralists.

Approach

Oxfam’s role in the ROSP will be to facilitate the building of collaborative networks between those who demand, generate, and use information on pastoralism. These networks will help to strengthen the capacity of all concerned to understand and analyse pastoralists’ priorities and bridge the present gaps existing between research, policy, and practice.

It is envisaged that a major output of these collaborations will be the production of a periodic ‘status’ report, which will not only report on the status of pastoralism within the region, but also on the state of pastoral data. This report will highlight the trends and processes affecting pastoral livelihoods; consolidating what we currently know and identifying gaps in knowledge and information, to be filled by further research processes.