ILRI’s Andrew Mude interviewed live on DSTV television on August 24, 2011 by a South African journalist on the drought in the Horn, what can be done to enhance pastoral resilience in this region in the face of recurring droughts, such as his project that is insuring pastoral livestock against drought for the first time.

Pastoralism is the dominant livelihood activity in the North Eastern Province (NEP) of Kenya. It is supplemented only by a limited amount of agriculture along the rivers. The province faces various developmental challenges including chronic poverty and food insecurity, low human capital and poor health standards, high vulnerability to climate change, poor infrastructure, insecurity and low crop and livestock productivity.

The semi-arid Kitengela plains south of Nairobi National Park (NNP) have been the longtime

home of the Kaputiei Maasai community. Together with NNP these plains form the

Athi-Kaputiei ecosystem. The plains host rich populations of wildlife and are vital to the

health of NNP, since 70 to 80 percent of the Park’s animals roam outside it’s boundaries

at any one time.

But the rangeland that once seemed endless is now splintering. Close to the ever

expanding Nairobi, the Kitengela plains are experiencing a population boom, rising land

Katharine Downie, Coordinator for the Technical Consortium for Building Resilience in the Horn of Africa, ILRI, at the side event, “Measuring and Evaluating Resilience in Drylands of East Africa”. IFPRI 2020 conference on Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security, May 15-17, 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. More information at http://www.2020resilience.ifpri.info

Traditionally sung by mothers, this song describes the importacne of cattle to a pastoralist community living in a semi-desert area.

Summarizes a baseline study of the traditional livestock production system of central Mali, classifying production systems in the study in the study zone according to the degree of dependence on livestock products for gross revenue or food supply of the household or production unit, and according to types of agriculture associated w. livestock. Describes primary resources available for livestock production; livestock numbers & movement patterns; the agropastoral system; and the pastoral system associated w. rice cultivation in the Niger innundation zone.

Presents a general description of pastoralist milk production from cattle in Africa, analyzing data on milk yield & offtake, lactation and milk composition under pastoralist conditions; briefly examines the use of milk from camels and smallstock by pastoralsits to complement their milk supply from cattle.

Discusses issues related to the collection of data on labour inputs for pastoral production, considering the utility of data on labour as part of pastoral systems research, and research methods for data collection, particularly for multi-visit recall techniques and the time allocation technique.

Lance Robinson, Governance and Resilience Scientist, ILRI, at the side event, “Measuring and Evaluating Resilience in Drylands of East Africa.”; IFPRI 2020 conference on Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security, May 15-17, 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. More information at http://www.2020resilience.ifpri.info