Public Engagement to Prioritize the Pastoral Research Agenda at the Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Research Center of OARI in Ethiopia

The Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI) has a mandate to conduct agricultural and livestock research throughout the Regional State of Oromia in Ethiopia. OARI has recently opened a facility near Yabello town on the Borana Plateau called the Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Research Center. A meeting was held in August 2006 at Yabello that involved representatives from pastoral communities, the private sector, government, and non-governmental organizations. The aim was to engage stakeholders in a process of problem prioritization and set the stage to create new partnerships to better address pressing problems. The final priorities included: addressing a general decline in forage availability; improving water-harvesting methods; reducing effects of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD); improving pastoral livestock marketing; and intervening to help mitigate problems associated with increased competition for land between maize cultivation and dry-season grazing. Researchers, pastoral community members, development actors, and policy makers all play varied roles in dealing with each of the five priority issues. The implementation of a new prescribed fire program to restore bush-encroached rangelands in southern Ethiopia, and hence increase forage supplies, is given as an example of integrated action to address problems. The results of this prioritization meeting were encouraging—the key is the focus on process and new partnerships. OARI plans to use the same approach in planning activities at other research centers in different agro-ecological zones

Assessing the value of climate forecast information for pastoralists: Evidence from southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya

Climatic variability exerts tremendous influence on the livelihoods and well-being of pastoralists who inhabit the arid and semi-arid lands of the Horn of Africa. Recent advances in climate forecasting technologies have raised the intriguing prospect of reasonably accurate forecasts of coming seasons' rainfall patterns. Several donors and governments in the region are keenly interested in these technologies and in developing forecast delivery channels on the assumption that this information will prove valuable to the vulnerable populations it is meant to help not only indirectly, as an input into top-down early warning systems, but also directly, as a basis for improving choice under uncertainty. We explore the value of such external climate forecast information to pastoralists in a large study area spanning southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya using original data collected using both open-ended qualitative methods to identify and understand indigenous climate forecasting methods and quantitative data collected using survey instruments fielded in two rounds, one before and one after the long rains of 2001. The data show that pastoralists rely heavily on indigenous forecasting methods — in terms of having both access to and confidence in these methods — while external forecasts are less commonly received or believed. We elicited pastoralists' subjective, probabilistic expectations of the coming season's rainfall and find that neither use of nor belief in external forecasts causes any appreciable change in respondents' seasonal rainfall expectations. Moreover, relatively few pastoralists act on their own climate expectations, no matter how formed. In sum, climate forecast information does not seem a limiting factor at present in pastoralist communities in the Horn of Africa, not least of which because of the existence of a vibrant and still-relevant tradition of indigenous forecasting

Successful Implementation of Collective Action and Human-Capacity Building Among Pastoralists in Southern Ethiopia: Lessons Learned, 2001-2008

Since 2000 the PARIMA project has implemented pilot risk-management activities among poverty-stricken, semi-settled pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. The goal has been to improve human welfare via collective action and capacity building. Outcomes include progress in income generation, asset conservation, and livelihood diversification. The approach has been unique to southern Ethiopia in that a bottom-up, participatory perspective has dominated. It has focused on the priorities and felt needs of local people rather than top-down development of livestock or agricultural technology. Fifty-nine collective-action groups were created. Dominated by women, they have included over 2,300 members and most groups have been recently merged to form cooperatives. Not one group has failed and many group members have emerged as key leaders of large cooperatives that include a wider variety of recruits. Creating sustainable impacts via collective action and capacity building requires time, patience, and skill—it is not a quick fix. The process of taking raw, illiterate volunteers and transforming them into functional and sustainable groups took two to three years on average. Ten lessons for success are forwarded as guidelines for pastoral development under similar circumstances

Can Collective Action and Capacity Building Reduce Vulnerability Among Settled Pastoralists?

In 2001 PARIMA and her partners began to create collective-action groups among illiterate, settled pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. These groups—dominated by women—focused on savings-led microfinance, small business, and livestock marketing to increase incomes and diversify livelihoods. Fifty-nine groups with over 2,100 members were formed using intensive capacity- building methods. After six years we wanted to compare group members with their neighbors who never participated in the PARIMA program. We surveyed 180 individuals from groups and paired control (traditional) communities. Respondents were asked to assess the extent that they perceived positive, negative, or no change in their lives over the past three years in terms of a variety of social, economic, and ecological attributes. Considered overall, an average of 81% of the sampled group members perceived that their lives had improved in everything from income and quality of life to personal confidence and human health. In contrast, an average of only 16% of control respondents felt the same way. These preliminary results suggest that collective action can be a viable development strategy here, especially among poor, settled, or displaced people living in peri-urban areas of the rangelands. However, collective action will be most sustainable when accompanied by intensive training, technical support, an effective legal framework, and growing market opportunities

Achieving Development Impact among Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral People: Lessons Learned in Southern Ethiopia, 2000-2009

The outreach and action-research component of the Pastoral Risk Management (PARIMA) project began with a focus on the Borana Plateau of southern Ethiopia in 2000. Our goal was to use participatory methods to learn about development needs and apply the knowledge gained to benefit local communities. Today it is clear that the project has had positive impacts on the lives of thousands of people. This report helps tell this story by emphasizing the process we used. At the start we knew that the traditional pastoral system was under intense pressure as poverty and hunger were common. Community-based problem diagnosis confirmed the need to increase incomes and diversify livelihoods, but the real challenge was how to do it. Further stakeholder interactions revealed that collective action and micro-finance could be important interventions. As collective-action groups formed we responded to new requests to assist with skill development via capacity-building short courses and field tours for group members to see other places and people. We also helped create new livestock marketing channels and provided long-term monitoring and problem solving concerning conflict management. Many specialized collaborators were needed to help us. In the end, the intervention package was complementary and strong. Group formation and visits with successful peers helped inspire beneficiaries to envision a more hopeful future. Livestock marketing and small-business ventures fueled micro-finance, personal confidence, and generated a new base of diversified wealth that has reduced food insecurity and drought vulnerability. There is considerable evidence of success. One outcome has been the growth and sustainability of 59 collective-action groups created starting in 2001. With 2,300 founding members (76 percent women) and 13,800 direct beneficiaries, not one group failed over eight years. Over 5,360 micro-loans were extended with a value of US $647,600 (or 6.2 million Birr at the prevailing exchange rate of 9.6 Birr per US$1). Loan repayments included a minimum interest rate of 10.5 percent and 96 percent of loans were recovered. By 2009 the groups were merged into government cooperatives. Government was a project supporter and co-owner as PARIMA phased out. In summary, our experience illustrates that an action-oriented project can make a difference in the marginal lands of Ethiopia. We learned some key lessons: (1) Start at a small scale and build trust; (2) encourage authentic participation and aim for impact; (3) build real partnerships with other development actors; (4) focus on women; (5) build human capacity and the ability to see a hopeful future; (6) use innovative peers in the learning process; (7) help establish market linkages and networks; (8) respect local cultures and use culture to integrate new concepts; (9) effectively manage conflicts that come with change; and (10) help create sustainable cooperatives. Other insights are provided in terms of how collective-action groups change over time, details of managing micro-finance activities, and how to overcome common obstacles we encountered in the field. Creating sustainable impacts via collective action and capacity building requires time, patience, and skill—it is not a quick fix. The process of taking untrained, illiterate volunteers and transforming them into functional and durable collective-action groups took about three years, on average. Many factors needed to come together to allow the project to achieve impact. These included a strong network of collaborators, a traditional production system under pressure, long-term funding support, and devotion among team members to assist the pastoral community. There are new challenges that threaten the sustainability of progress that has been achieved. On-going attention needs to be given to build human capacity at all levels, provide more funds to capitalize livestock trade, and improve access to information concerning livestock prices and drought early-warning. Finally, the process documented here is not a cookbook for ready application elsewhere. Rather, it is an approach that can be modified for other situations in rural Ethiopia and elsewhere

Collective Action by Women’s Groups to Combat Drought and Poverty in Northern Kenya

Collective action can be an effective means of local development and risk reduction among rural people, but few examples have been documented in pastoral areas. We conducted extensive interviews for 16 women’s groups residing in northern Kenya. Our objectives were to understand how groups were formed, governed, and sustained and what activities they have pursued. The groups we interviewed were 10 years old, on average. Charter memberships averaged about 24 women, 20 of whom were illiterate. Half of the groups formed after facilitation by a development partner and half formed spontaneously. Groups are governed under detailed constitutional frameworks with elected leaders. Groups primarily form to improve living standards of the members and undertake a wide variety of activities founded on savings and credit schemes, income diversification, small business development, education, health service delivery, and natural resource management. Groups have evolved means to buffer members from drought and poverty. The greatest threats to the sustainability of the groups come from internal factors such as unfavorable group dynamics and illiteracy, while external challenges include drought, poverty, and political incitement. Principles of good group governance and wisdom in business are reportedly the key ingredients for long-term success

Are Cattle Die-Offs Predictable on the Borana Plateau

Drought regularly affects rangelands and contributes to high death rates for livestock and poverty for pastoralists. But do livestock losses occur randomly simply when rainfall is low, or are they cyclical and predictable? Previously, PARIMA researchers proposed that high stocking rates—combined with low rainfall—trigger livestock die-offs on the Borana Plateau. It takes about six years for animal numbers to recover, setting the stage for another die-off when a dry year occurs. This “boom-and-bust” cycle is based on observed herd crashes in 1983-5, 1991-3, and 1998-9. Researchers predicted in 2002 that the next major die-off would occur during 2004-06, and one goal of this brief is to report on recent observations. Team members also examined ecological change in relation to livestock patterns. Results confirm that a major crash occurred during 2005, verifying the prediction. The rangelands have been degraded by decades of heavy livestock grazing, resulting in bush encroachment and top-soil erosion. Will the next livestock crash occur “on schedule” around 2011? Probably not—it is expected sooner. Researchers speculate that the production system is rapidly changing, a view shared by local pastoralists. Livestock carrying capacity is reportedly declining and animal die-offs may become more frequent and irregular

Building Effective Community Participation and Stakeholder Partnerships to Promote Positive Change in the Southern Ethiopian Rangelands

Recently there has been increased recognition that authentic community participation and creating strong inter-institutional partnerships are both important in the process of capacity building, generating innovation, and sustaining development achievements in rural Africa. Here we summarize a process of community participation and formation of institutional partnerships in support of pastoral risk-management interventions over the past seven years on the Borana Plateau. Community involvement has been stimulated using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods. This has resulted in the proliferation of pastoral collective-action groups that have diversified livelihoods, engaged markets, and improved incomes. Implementing and sustaining positive change, however, has also been related to building a dynamic network of 46 like- minded partners across Ethiopia and northern Kenya. These partners include community based organizations, women’s groups, policy makers, educators, researchers, private sector firms, various GO and NGO development agents, and others. It is argued that widespread impact across such a large area could not have been achieved without the assistance of many partners that contribute complimentary resources and expertise to plug gaps that can otherwise impede progress. Challenges and opportunities in creating and maintaining partner networks in support of such rural development are discussed

The Effect of Cymbopogon citratus Essential Oil-Water Emulsion on Some Blood Parameters and Histopathology of Liver and Kidney in Mice

This study was aimed to assess the possible toxic effects o