Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent and Protracted Crises (SPARC)
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Item Earth Observation for Rangeland Intelligence: Mapping, Monitoring, Managing(Presentation, 2025-05) Paliwal, AmbicaPresented at the Jameel Observatory drylands food security and resilience early action research and evidence dialogue, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-16 May 2025Item The Drylands of Tomorrow: Pathways to Prosperity(Presentation, 2025-05) Derbyshire, Samuel F.Presented at the Jameel Observatory drylands food security and resilience early action research and evidence dialogue, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-16 May 2025Item Livestock markets and resilient drylands(Presentation, 2025-05) Shikuku, Kelvin MashisiaPresented at the Jameel Observatory drylands food security and resilience early action research and evidence dialogue, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15-16 May 2025Item Linking humanitarian response with resilience building in the drylands of the Horn of Africa(Presentation, 2025-05) Mohamed, Tahira Shariff'Lightning talk' presented by Tahira Mohamed (ILRI) at the Jameel Observatory Community of Practice meeting, Addis Ababa, 13-14 May 2025Item Pastoralism and early warning(Presentation, 2025-05) Derbyshire, Samuel F.'Lightning talk' presented by Sam Derbyshire (ILRI) at the Jameel Observatory Community of Practice meeting, Addis Ababa, 13-14 May 2025Item Pathways to resilient livelihoods: Lesson from social protection and moral economy perspective in East Africa's Drylands(Presentation, 2025-04) Mohamed, Tahira ShariffItem Building resilience through dynamic monitoring of shocks and enhanced access to near-real-time information using citizen science and crowdsourcing techniques: A report of a national stakeholder engagement workshop in Ethiopia(Report, 2025-03-30) Shikuku, Kelvin Mashisia; Lepariyo, Watson; Gobu, Wako; Godana, Nura; Baraza, Meshack; Ochenje, Ibrahim; Banerjee, Rupsha R.The International Livestock Research Institute, with funding support from the Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent and Protracted Crises (SPARC) programme, has established and monitored sentinel sites in five counties in Kenya and in the Borena, Afder, and East Hararghe zones in Ethiopia. The work is implemented under the Drought Index-insurance for Resilience in the Sahel and Horn of Africa (DIRISHA) project. Through the DIRISHA project, transect sites have been constructed, markets monitored, and households surveyed by “contributors” recruited using a participatory approach that includes community members and local leaders. Crowdsourced data are gathered using the KAZNET smartphone application. Dissemination of near-real-time information is achieved by combining social learning and digital innovations. This report summarizes insights generated during a participatory multi-stakeholder workshop in Ethiopia aimed at sharing DIRISHA project learnings and exploring prospects for incorporating KAZNET into climate risk management and food system transformation initiatives in Ethiopia.Item Early action to manage droughts, food insecurity and environmental shocks in the Horn of Africa(Presentation, 2025-04) Mohamed, Tahira Shariff; Derbyshire, Samuel F.Item Pastoralism, Drought and Early Warning(Presentation, 2025-03) Derbyshire, Samuel F.Item Camels, climate, and capital: Subverting the narrative of pastoral sustainability(Opinion Piece, 2025-03-03) Mohamed, Tahira Shariff; Jilo, Roba BulgaAs pastoralist communities seek ways of adapting to climate change, camel rearing is taking precedence, with the sale of camel products providing sustainable livelihoods in regions facing recurrent drought.Item A review of approaches to the integration of humanitarian and development aid: the case of drought management in the Horn of Africa(Journal Article, 2025-01-24) Mohamed, Tahira Shariff; Crane, Todd A.; Derbyshire, Samuel F.; Roba, Guyo MalichaWhether and how to link humanitarian assistance and long-term development aid are questions that have underlain polarized debates in policy, practical, and theoretical spaces over recent years. This is due in large part to the diversity of actors, institutional mandates, funding sources, programmes (themselves always changing), and operational dynamics that exist between the two domains. In pastoral areas of the Horn of Africa, which experience recurrent drought emergencies, integrating the two forms of assistance has been attempted in several instances, which have often been disjointed and have sought to grapple with an unpredictable terrain of shifting policies and program designs. Such challenges have been further compounded by a substantial disconnect between programming (across humanitarian aid and resilience building) and existing pastoralist practices and strategies comprising local social safety nets. Using a comprehensive literature review, this paper explores some of the practical strategies that have been implemented to integrate these two forms of assistance over recent years. It surveys implications that arise in relation to the question of how best to address persistent drought in the Horn of Africa. Interrogating mechanisms for enhancing aid efficiency and effectiveness including crisis modifiers and contingency planning, the paper examines what progress has been made in transitioning from reactive, short-term emergency response to long-term development and what barriers still exist. It also considers Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR), a modality envisaged by many as a bridge for enhancing local ownership and thus sustainability of both kinds of intervention. In doing so, the paper argues that despite multiple policy shifts and the adoption of new frameworks (including, recently, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative - IDDRSI), when it comes to practical implementation, there has been little progress. We suggest that this is due in part to the well documented complexity of the aid system, and the forms of bureaucracy and upward accountability that make change extremely difficult, and in part to a lack of meaningful community participation in planning and practice.Item COP29: Drought warnings save lives, what about livelihoods?(Opinion Piece, 2024-11-12) Hassan, Rahma; Derbyshire, Samuel F.Item Collective tenure of pastoral land in Sudan: Evidence from North Kordofan(Report, 2024-06) Sulieman, H.M.; Omar Adam, Y.; Naile, S.This study focused on ‘perceived’ tenure security, i.e. how secure people feel. This recognised that perceived tenure security can be a function of formal (legal) recognition of access and use rights, as well as an individual or group’s experiences. Findings at community level include: a description of the pastoral community and collective land under study; the de facto tenure system at community level; the characteristics of the local tenure system, perceived tenure security and factors that affect community perceptions; and differences for individuals vis-à-vis the collective.Item Characterising collective tenure security in pastoral systems in Burkina Faso(Report, 2024-06-30) Sawadogo, Issa; Illy, Elie; Boubacar, Ly; Diallo, Safiatou; Badini, Ismael; Magnini, Jufferin; Nassef, MagdaThis study focused on ‘perceived’ tenure security, i.e. how secure people feel. This recognised that perceived tenure security can be a function of formal (legal) recognition of access and use rights, as well as an individual or group’s experiences. Findings at community level include: a description of the pastoral community and collective land under study; the de facto tenure system at community level; the characteristics of the local tenure system, perceived tenure security and factors that affect community perceptions; and differences for individuals vis-à-vis the collective.Item Marro: Enhancing resilient livelihoods through women's mutual support in Kenya's drylands(Presentation, 2024-08) Mohamed, Tahira ShariffItem Social assistance in crises: Is Harambee replacing Buusaa Goonoofaa among Borana pastoralists?(Presentation, 2024-09) Mohamed, Tahira ShariffItem Breaking down silos: Towards effective integration of resilience and humanitarian aid in the Horn of Africa(Brief, 2024-09-01) Mohamed, Tahira Shariff; Crane, Todd A.; Roba, Guyo Malicha; Derbyshire, Samuel F.; Banerjee, Rupsha R.Item Perceptions of land tenure security in pastoral areas in Marsabit, Kenya(Report, 2024-05-30) Otieno, Ken; Lumumba, Odenda; Odote, Collins; Akinyi, Lydia; Wari, Gayo; Ongesa, Laureen; Nassef, MagdaThese studies acknowledge the complexity of collective (communal) tenure in pastoral areas, which encompasses a multifaceted system of rights. It analyses two layers of tenure security: the security of the entire community and the security of individual members within that community, including differences related to gender and age. Additionally, the study explores the role of pastoral mobility in the context of tenure rights and pastoralism. This study examines two dimensions of tenure security: the security of the community as a whole and the security of individual members within that community, taking into account factors such as gender and age. In addition, we examined the role of mobility within a functional pastoral system. We found that the measurement of tenure security, including individual perceptions and perceived tenure security, is considerably more challenging in pastoral contexts compared to farming or settled households, where there are clear individual land titles for specific demarcated areas. Consequently, pastoral tenure and its varying degrees of security are not adequately captured in global measurement frameworks like Prindex, LANDex and other monitoring platforms contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.Item Understanding and characterising collective tenure and tenure security in pastoral systems: Consolidation of case studies in Burkina Faso, Sudan and Kenya(Report, 2024-03-30) Nassef, Magda; Otieno, Ken; Sulieman, Hussein; Sawadogo, Issa; Locke, A.; Langdown, I.; Flintan, Fiona E.Land tenure insecurity has been highlighted as a main factor in farmer–herder conflict (Flintan, 2012; Davies et al., 2016; Nassef et al., 2023). While tenure and tenure security for settled land users has been well documented, pastoral collective tenure and degrees of tenure security in pastoral systems are not as well understood. To explore this issue, we examined collective tenure systems in Burkina Faso, Sudan and Kenya. Two layers of tenure and tenure security were considered: that of the group and that of individuals within the group, recognising that groups are not homogenous. None of the pastoral communities in this study hold any formal documentation for their land but do consider themselves rightful landholders.Item The impact of forage condition on household food security in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia(Journal Article, 2024) Alulu, Vincent; Shikuku, Kelvin Mashisia; Lepariyo, Watson; Paliwal, Ambica; Galgallo, Diba; Gobu, Wako; Banerjee, Rupsha R.We studied the causal link between forage condition and food security in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia and probed the mechanisms through which the effects occur. The study utilized weekly panel survey data collected over a period of 94 weeks (March 2021–December 2022) from drought-prone pastoral regions and estimated two-stage least squares instrumental variables regression to assess causal impacts. We found that an increase in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) – our proxy for forage condition – by 10% significantly reduced the likelihood of a household experiencing food insecurity by 12 percentage points. The main mechanisms through which improved forage condition increased food security were livestock productivity enhancement, reduced prices of basic food commodities (cereals, legumes, and vegetables), and utilization of better coping strategies by households. These findings suggest the need for interventions and initiatives aimed at boosting livestock productivity and reducing vulnerability to drought-induced poor forage conditions. Efforts focused on the monitoring of forage conditions and supporting market development for livestock feed are important for addressing the adverse impacts of drought and deteriorating forage conditions in the horn of Africa. Furthermore, the monitoring of drought conditions and shocks using high-frequency data has the potential for providing early warning and informing anticipatory action.