Pastoralism is used to describe a society that derives majority of their food and income from livestock. This form of farming system is largely practised in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL). It is estimated that 70% of the landmass in the Horn of Africa is dry land; in Kenya 80% of the landmass is classified as ASAL, while approximately half of Tanzania consists of dry land. These dry lands support wild resource harvesting, tourism but most importantly livestock rearing.

This paper examines post-drought rehabilitation policies to aid recovery in pastoral livestock production in Africa. It starts by describing the main impact of drought on livestock production and the sequences of this for the national economy. It considers the range of policy options open to governments and development agencies in this area and the problems associated with each one. It then examines the provision of credit to herders to aid in the reconstitution of livestock holdings, and associates the particular issues with the implementation of such projects.

This document presents the proceedings of the international conference held at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, April 24-26, 2002. The theme of the conference was Policies for Sustainable Land Management in the East African Highlands, which was convened to bring together researchers, policy makers, development practitioners, donors and others to review, discuss and synthesize the findings and policy implications of policy research related to sustainable land management in the East African highlands.