Eastern and Southern Africa

Pastoralism is the main livelihood in the arid and semi-arid areas of Eastern and Southern Africa. Over 90% of the meat consumed in East Africa, and more than 50% of the milk produced comes from pastoral herds. Countries like Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia are also major exporters of livestock to the Gulf countries, generating foreign exchange earnings and contributing to the economy.

In this region, pastoralists occupy rangelands with varying grasslands, shrubs, and woodlands and practice horizontal movement across communally managed or open-access resources, including transboundary mobility. Examples include movements between Kenya and Tanzania, as well as between Kenya and Uganda. They rear camels, cattle, sheep, and goats and are keepers of renowned livestock species such as Ankole cattle and Tswana cattle.

The pastoralists in the region are facing increasing loss of resources from large-scale industrialization, mass land dispossession, especially in Tanzania, recurrent droughts in Southern and the Horn of Africa, insecurity, and privatization of communal lands. As a result, their mobility is restricted, and their resilience to climate fluctuations is diminished. All of this region has faced some form of conflict, especially in the border areas, in the last few years.

The priorities and needs of the pastoralists in the region are multifaceted and interconnected. Critical objectives include improving access to land and water through enhanced governance mechanisms, building the capacity and skills of youth to benefit from the pastoralist value chain, including pastoralists’ voices in decision-making platforms, and improving social services to pastoralist communities, especially in marginal areas. The regions also aim to establish inclusive multistakeholder platforms for community rangeland governance and work more collaboratively with the African Union to form the African Union Pastoralists Hub.

The IGAD protocol on transhumance has been signed by five IGAD countries: the Republic of Sudan, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Djibouti, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and the Republic of Kenya. The goal of the protocol is to allow free, safe, and orderly cross-border mobility of transhumant livestock and herders in the IGAD region.

The Pastoralist Knowledge Hub has provided crucial support for the development of the Eastern and Southern African Pastoralist Network (ESAPN). Despite the importance of pastoralism in the region and the large number of pastoralists, a regional network of pastoral civil society organizations had not yet been developed. ESAPN has participated in several forums, such as the Committee on World Food Security, the European Development Days, the PKH’s Partners’ Meetings, as well as regional forums, such as dialogue on IGAD’s protocol on transhumance, and the Kenya and Ethiopia Pastoral Weeks.

The Hub supported:

Community dialogues and regional meetings for the development of the network. The first meeting was held in Lukenya, Kenya, in January 2016, then in Arusha, Tanzania, in May 2017.
A knowledge-sharing workshop on pastoral land tenure between pastoralists from Eastern and Southern Africa was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2017 with the support of FAO’s land tenure unit. This workshop resulted in the publication of a case study of applying the VGGT to the case of oil exploration in Turkana, Kenya, and an informational pamphlet on the VGGT in Swahili.

Additionally, in July 2024, FAO and EU signed a 47 million Euro programme designed to strengthen the resilience of pastoralists in Eastern Africa. The project Pastoralism and Livestock Adaptation to Climate Change in Eastern Africa Programme (PLACE) will address the challenges in developing sustainable, climate-resilient pastoral systems across the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of pastoralism in the face of a changing environment.

Eastern and Southern African pastoralists demand recognition and support

FAO and EU sign 47 million euro programme to enhance resilience and food security for pastoralists in Eastern Africa

Bridging the gap: New network links pastoralists to policy making

Different contexts yet similar challenges