The Ecological and Socio-economic Role of Prosopis juliflora in Eritrea
An Analytical Assessment within the Context of Rural Development in the Horn of Africa Harnet Bokrezion
Introduction : Prosopis
juliflora in Eritrea within the Global Context of Rural Development and
Environmental Sustainability To ensure environmental sustainability by
2015 is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the
United Nations alongside the eradication of extreme hunger and poverty
and the combating of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. They are a
blue print of international development to which all countries and
leading development institutions agreed. According to the MDGs,
environmental sustainability includes the integration of related
sustainable development principles into national policies and programmes
as well as regeneration efforts regarding environmental resources. The
international development community and policy makers have at last
understood the close interlinkages between those goals and have - among
other things - acknowledged the importance of tackling environmental
degradation and improving ecological management as a vital component in
the eradication of global poverty. As a result, many programmes and
initiatives in recent years have adopted a more holistic and integrated
approach to development. In regard to (natural) environmental
sustainability issues such as natural resource management,
reforestation, protection of biodiversity, resource based conflict
management, and environmental education have all become common aspects
in the fight against poverty.
A new major challenge is the
integration of the question of climate change, carbon dioxide capture
and carbon footprint reduction to which many development organisations
and policy makers are only slowly adapting. The ongoing debate on
climate change and appropriate measures to mitigate the effects of
global warming may be slowing the adaptation process down. Nevertheless
the threat is evident and therefore makes the need for the protection
and regeneration of natural resources even more immediate.
To
achieve this, relevant policy design and widespread mobilisation needs
to take place at several levels. Planning, coordination, and
implementation of sustainable and effective natural resource management
will need to take place at a country cross-cutting level as well as at
national, regional and community level. However progress is often
undermined by a lack of necessary technologies, capacities, knowledge
and research. This often leads to a mismanagement of resources,
inappropriate practices or simply a sense of helplessness or ignorance.
The
issue of Prosopis - at least in the case of Eritrea - seems to fit
exactly into this wider picture: Awareness raising about the importance
of natural resource management and protection alongside active community
mobilisation has been widely and very visibly taking place at all
levels and in this regard, Eritrea is ahead of many other Sub-Saharan
countries. In the semi-arid areas of Eritrea however, Prosopis is now
widely viewed as a threat to those resources and rural livelihoods
mainly because of its invasive character at the expense of native
species and land size within both range and crop lands. This research
study aims to assess and analyse the impact of P.juliflora on Eritrea’s
ecosystems and its role in terms of both the socio-economic benefits and
disadvantages it brings to rural communities. Prosopis at the moment
seems a continuously spreading element at the expense of Eritrea’s
native environmental resource base. Therefore, the matter needs to be
urgently researched, managed and integrated into related national and
community-based development programmes and policies.
To download the complete PhD dissertation,click here (6.1 mb). (Please note large size of file.)
The
use of alternative animal feeds to enhance food security and
environmental protection in the Sudan (The case for Prosopis Juliflora) By T. M. Abedelnoor; N. H. Talib; A. A. Mabrouk; M. A. Mohamed, M. I. El-Mahi H.H.Abu-Eisa; Fre.Z; and Bokrezion.H Editor in chief: Zeremariam Fre (PhD).
Prosopis
juliflora (referred to in this paper as Prosopis or locally known to as
‘’Muskit’’) is a member of a fast growing, ever green and drought
resistant shrub which grows in semi-arid areas all over the world,
including Sudan and several arid and semiarid countries in Africa. The
seed pods are palatable to local animals, particularly ruminants such as
sheep and goat. The leaves are relatively unpalatable – due to both the
tannin content and to their indigestibility. However, in Sudan and
elsewhere, Prosopis has also caused considerable problems because of its
rapid growth and damage to farmlands, pasture and especially the
irrigated agricultural schemes. The shrub is dispersed in a number of
ways, including distribution of seeds from the pods via the faeces of
goats and sheep. A concerted but unsuccessful attempt at its removal has
been made by the government.
There
are differing perspective in Sudan among policy makers and academics
and such views range from total physical eradication of Prosopis to
seeking alternative uses for it. This paper uses as its point of
departure that Prosopis in underutilized resource and that it has great
potential as an animal feed resources in the arid lands of Sudan and
Africa.
During
2007, The Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa
(PENHA) and the Animal Production Research Centre (APRC) within the
Animal Resources Research Corporation within the Ministry of Science and
Technology (MOST) have been engaged in some serious research to
investigate the potential and more effective use of Prosopis as an
animal feed. The results from the four month study which came to an end
in late 2007 have clearly indicated that prosopis has indeed a great
potential for use as animal feed in various forms if fed in appropriate
quantities and made more palatable to the animals .Following the
outcomes of the research led to a series of pilot training programmes
were conducted with pastoral communities in Eastern Sudan and Eritrea.
The overall conclusion is that Prosopis can provide a significant input
into the feed of small ruminants in the pastoral areas of Sudan as a well as other parts of Africa.
Legislators and Livestock: A Comparative Analysis of Pastoralist Parliamentary Groups in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda
John Morton, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, April 2005
Final Report of the NRI/PENHA Research Project on Pastoralist Parliamentary groups, funded by DFID's Livestock Production Programme and the CAPE Unite, African Union's Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources.
The Ankole Longhorn Cattle Sustain our Life and Livelihood - We have to Conserve Them
The launch of an important report held in February 2010 at Sanga, Nyabushozi Kiruhura District.Herders'
representatives and other stakeholders led the official launch of this
study. Nearly 100 people attended this meeting, almost all of whom were
herders from the local district where the work had been done. 41 were
women.
The importance of the work was emphasised by the number of
senior government officials present, in particular the National Animal
Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank. In addition, representatives of
LPP, LIFE and PENHA (UK) were present.
The picture below show members of those attending the meeting celebrating the formal launch by waving the report.
A full description of the launch can be downloaded by clicking here (1.03 MB). The report itself is now available in electronic form and can be downloaded in English by clicking here (1,477 kb) and in Runyankore by clicking here (1,403 kb). It can also be obtained by post from the PENHA London office or from PENHA Uganda.
The impact of increased food prices on rural-urban-rural relationships. The case of Eastern Sudan.
Zeremariam Fre (PhD) Team leader, Mirghani Ibnoaf (PhD) Senior Researcher, and Hiroshi Kuwata (MSc) Researcher (PENHA)
Study commissioned by IIED / UNFPA Khartoum, Sudan 2009
ABSTRACT
The global increase of food prices in 2007 has to a degree affected the Sudan like so many other nations and has been a subject of discussion at the national level. However, in the case of the Sudan the food prices increase has happened over a much longer time frame and it is difficult to trace its roots in the current world food crisis.
Price increases in essential imported commodities such as food stuffs, e.g. wheat, are reflected in local prices in the cities but there are also marked increases in locally produced staple foods particularly sorghum which is the most important locally produced food item as far as the rural and urban poor are concerned. The Eastern Region of the Sudan in general and the Kassala State in particular, which are main focus of this study, reveal that the underlying causes for the current local grain price rises have more to do with internal distribution systems, accessibility and policy issues than external factors such as increases in international food prices. Getting reliable information on such issues is politically very sensitive and therefore difficult to obtain.
The Eastern Region and particularly the Gadarif State is considered to be the breadbasket for the whole of Sudan and the Eastern Region is more than able to feed itself. It is beyond the scope of this study to analyse all the underlying factors that led to a situation in which a food surplus region in general suffers from food insecurity. The Eastern Region produces 23% of the total grain production for Sudan.
This study which is mostly based on findings from Kassala State which revealed the following: There is a major livelihood transformation among the pastoral communities who are symbiotically linked to urban communities to the benefit of the rural-urban poor. However, we have found very little evidence that the sedenterisation and urbanisation process is driven by the international food price increases. For livestock owners both rural and peri-urban the availability of animal food is the critical factor in securing their food security. Animal food is the second most important purchase along with human food for the livestock owning population who are the main producers of meat and milk for the urban centres. The terms of trade at present are not in the favour of livestock owners and that are adding to their economic and social vulnerability. From a policy and knowledge perspective at State and Federal levels there is very little understanding as to how the above mentioned rural-urban symbiotic relationships operate to benefit the rural-urban poor. The premise for intervention, be it in food security or other development spheres, is based upon rural-urban dichotomy which stresses the artificial rural-urban divide. There is thus a huge information gap, which needs to be bridged by fresh research that seriously looks at the urban-rural dynamics more seriously.
The authors of this report are of the view that there are a number of opportunities to enhance local food security by putting in place rural-urban inclusive policies which should include: more investment on the livestock sector, more investment on animal fodder, improving the local market infrastructure, revitalising the private sector, introducing better milk/meat processing technologies for home and abroad.
Pastoralism in the Horn of Africa - To Be or Not To Be: An Evolutionary Perspective By Zeremariam Fre (PhD), Lecturer at the UniversityCollegeLondon
and Executive Director of PENHA
Paper presented to the Japan Natural Science Science Programme Seminar on pastoralism, Nairobi, September 2008.
The paper provides a broad context to the current status of pastoralism in the Horn of Africa from an economic and resource competition/conflict perspective. It argues that traditional pastoralism as we know it (i.e. an environmentally/socially sustainable livelihood) is going through serious self generated and externally driven evolution process which may be irreversible thus changing the pastoralist production system as we knew it. This realisation the author believes is so fundamental if planners, researchers and funders wish to contribute to the well being of pastoral peoples in this region. Drawing from experiences from Eastern Sudan and Western Eritrea,the author argues that researchers and planners often ignore the above challenges and the changing livelihood parameters.
There is also growing evidence that pastoral peoples are in urban and peri-urban economic activities in a symbiotic manner with other groups. Pastoral peoples are not as marginalized as is often claimed by some academics and over the last 20 years we have seen considerable growth in pastoralist led civil society organisations both at the national and local level. Pastoral peoples have now their political constituencies and have say in political systems regardless of the nature of the ruling elite. The author demonstrates that pastoral peoples despite the evolution mentioned above possess tremendous skills in animal production/management and own productive breeds of livestock, which could form the basis for more sustainable people, centred development..The author believes that it is critical that we recognise and build on these opportunities thus promoting a new agenda for sustainable pastoral development. The full text as a pdf can be downloaded by clicking here. (65 kb)
PENHA's Director lectures at the UN University in Japan
Zeremariam
Fre gave a presentation on "The New Phenomenon of Land Grabbing in
Africa and its Impact on Livelihoods and Ecosystems".
In
summary, he said that the question of land grabbing in the developing
world, including Eastern Europe, could be seen as a new phenomenon to
some, and to others it could well be new wine in old bottles given the
various stakeholders involved in land grabbing both at domestic and
international levels. It is important that land grabbing is
contextualised in the regions where it is taking place to have a better
understanding of the various stakeholders, their production objectives,
their relation to the ecology and other the factors at play. By a better
understanding of the political, ecological, class and governance
contexts where the land grab is occurring, we may be able to not only
grasp the situation but also help in finding some solutions to the
problem.
This presentation focused on the African context of both
‘’internal’’ and ‘’global’’ land grabbing experiences, shedding light
on some practical experiences as they impact on the livelihoods of the
rural poor and the ecology. Various references to Ethiopia, Sudan and
Eritrea with particular focus to pastoral and peasant farming
communities in those countries were briefly highlighted. These
reflections were designed to promote debate on the land grabbing issue
from a livelihoods and ecological perspective.
A video of the presentation followed by the discussion can be viewed by clicking here for the presentation and here for the discussion. It is essential that you have a broadband (ADSL) connection to be able to view this presentation.
Pastoralism and the African Union POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR PASTORALISM IN AFRICA: Securing, Protecting and Improving the Lives, Livelihoods and Rights of Pastoralist Communities Added:Saturday 11th June
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