The Future of Pastoralism in Africa An international conference in Addis Ababa 21-23 March 2011
http://www.penhanetwork.org/articles/29/1/The-Future-of-Pastoralism-in-Africa--An-international-conference-in-Addis-Ababa-21-23-March-2011/Page1.html
Kees Maxey
By Kees Maxey
Published on 01/12/2012
PENHA was invited to make a presentation of its work among pastoralist women in the Horn of Africa at a major conference in Addis Ababa. The meeting was organised by Future Agricultures Consortium, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University, and the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Addis Ababa.
Everse Ruhindi from Uganda gave a paper on behalf of PENHA on “Economic Empowerment for Pastoralist Women”. This was written in partnership with John Livingstone. The presentation pointed to the effectiveness of business skills training for women’s groups in pastoral areas, when combined with grants for rotating funds. This enables women to acquire productive assets and expand their micro-enterprises. The paper can be downloaded as a pdf from this internet link: http://www.future-agricultures.org/events/future-of-pastoralism Click on “Future of Pastoralism” box and then “Conference outputs” and go to Panel 12. Other papers can be downloaded. For example, Prof. John Morton from the University of Greenwich and a PENHA Trustee gave a paper on “Responsible companies and African livestock-keepers: teaching but not learning”. This is in Panel 6.
The theme of the conference was that the future of pastoralism in Africa is uncertain. Radical changes are affecting pastoralist areas in terms of access to resources, options for mobility and opportunities for marketing. These changes also bring new possibilities for making pastoralist livelihoods stronger but many questions remain about the sustainability of these changes. Is there opportunity for a productive, vibrant, market-oriented livelihood system or will pastoralist areas remain a backwater of underdevelopment, marginalisation and severe poverty? How can pastoralist ‘drop-outs’ be supported after they leave the livelihood but continue to interact with the livestock sector?
The Future of Pastoralism in Africa
An international conference in Addis Ababa 21-23 March 2011
PENHA was invited to make a presentation of its work among pastoralist women in the Horn of Africa at a major conference in Addis Ababa. The meeting was organised by Future Agricultures Consortium, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University, and the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Addis Ababa.
Everse Ruhindi from Uganda gave a paper on behalf of PENHA on “Economic Empowerment for Pastoralist Women”. This was written in partnership with John Livingstone. The presentation pointed to the effectiveness of business skills training for women’s groups in pastoral areas, when combined with grants for rotating funds. This enables women to acquire productive assets and expand their micro-enterprises. The paper can be downloaded as a pdf from this internet link: http://www.future-agricultures.org/events/future-of-pastoralism Click on “Future of Pastoralism” box and then “Conference outputs” and go to Panel 12. Other papers can be downloaded. For example, Prof. John Morton from the University of Greenwich and a PENHA Trustee gave a paper on “Responsible companies and African livestock-keepers: teaching but not learning”. This is in Panel 6.
The theme of the conference was that the future of pastoralism in Africa is uncertain. Radical changes are affecting pastoralist areas in terms of access to resources, options for mobility and opportunities for marketing. These changes also bring new possibilities for making pastoralist livelihoods stronger but many questions remain about the sustainability of these changes. Is there opportunity for a productive, vibrant, market-oriented livelihood system or will pastoralist areas remain a backwater of underdevelopment, marginalisation and severe poverty? How can pastoralist ‘drop-outs’ be supported after they leave the livelihood but continue to interact with the livestock sector?