Pastoralists In Ethiopia Research Articles

Climate variability and indigenous adaptation strategies by Somali pastoralists in Ethiopia

Climate variability and indigenous adaptation strategies by Somali pastoralists in Ethiopia

Burden of chronic pain among adult pastoralists in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional household survey.

Chronic pain is a major global health problem. Untreated pain causes particular suffering in marginalized communities. Most studies investigating chronic pain in sub-Saharan Africa stem from South Africa and Nigeria. Pastoralists are particularly underrepresented in pain research. The main objective of this study is to investigate the burden of chronic pain in adult pastoralists in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia. We conducted a cross-sectional household survey among adult pastoralists (aged 18 years or older, N = 299) by face-to-face interviews. To randomly select households, we applied GPS-based household localization and recruitment. Chronic pain was self-reported by 17.0% (95% CI: 10.8-25.7) of male and 34.7% (95% CI: 28.4-41.5) of female adult pastoralists. The prevalence of chronic pain increased with age from 5.4% (95% CI: 0.8-30.1; 18-34 years) to 27.1% (95% CI: 15.1-43.7; 35-54 years) to 69.1% (95% CI: 53.7-81.1; 55 years and older). The body sites most commonly affected among those with chronic pain were knees (37.2%), followed by lower back (33.7%) and head (23.3%). The data for the first time provide insights into the burden of chronic pain among Somali pastoralists and reveal associated risk factors. The results support the planning of locally adapted health interventions for pastoralist-specific pain management considering the effects of chronic pain on pastoralists' daily lives.

Poverty and Wealth without a Ladder? An Appraisal of the Stages of Progress Method among Agro–Pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley

Is it possible to measure wealth and poverty across settings while being faithful to local understandings? The stages of progress method (SoP) attempts to do this by building ladders of wealth in locally relevant terms and using these in comparisons across groups. This approach is potentially useful among pastoralist populations where monetary income and standard asset inventories may be misleading, and where people are discriminated against by the state and neglected by formal systems of accounting. On the basis of fieldwork among Nyangatom agro–pastoralists in Ethiopia, we expose some problematic assumptions of the SoP method. Participants did not endorse ladder-like stages from poverty to wealth distinguished by material assets, nor did they reach consensus on the definition of a poverty line. We caution that the SoP method carries risks of facipulation, and instead we advocate for multidimensional measures of prosperity based on locally relevant forms of wealth.

"I could not bear it": Perceptions of chronic pain among Somali pastoralists in Ethiopia. A qualitative study.

Pain is a major public health problem in the Global South, particularly among marginalized communities, such as Somali pastoralists. Yet, the topic of chronic pain has not yet been comprehensively studied in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in the Somali region of Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perceptions and notions of chronic pain among Somali pastoralists in this context. This study used an explorative qualitative design. We performed semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 20 purposively selected female and male Somali pastoralists with chronic pain. For data analysis, we applied the Framework Method by Gale et al. and explained patterns drawing on the Enactive Approach to Pain proposed by Stilwell and Harman. Six different themes emerged: (1) "Pain as a symptom of harsh daily life", (2) "Pain descriptions and dimensions", (3) "Temporality of pain", (4) "Pain-related stigma and stoicism" (5) "Mediating role of spirituality", and (6) "Impact of pain on daily life activities". Somali pastoralists described their chronic pain as a multicausal and relational experience. Pastoralists (especially women) commonly refrained from communicating their pain and represented aspects of social stigma and stoicism. The mediating role of spirituality aided pastoralists to make sense of their pain and to ease its impact on their harsh daily life. The findings of this study can contribute to raise awareness of chronic pain issues among pastoralists. They highlight the need for policymakers to prioritize the improvement of pastoralist-specific pain management. Necessary resources and skills should be available within health care facilities. Pain management should be accessible, affordable and culturally acceptable for this population.

Assessment of Place of Delivery and Associated Factors among Pastoralists in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Evaluation.

Pastoralist communities rely on their livestock for at least 50% of their food supply and source of income. Home births raise the risk of maternal morbidity and death, whereas institutional births lessen the likelihood of difficulties during labor. Around 70% of labors in pastoralist regions of Ethiopia were assisted by traditional birth attendants. Studies done from January 2004 to January 2023, accessed in PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, and other search engines, were included. PRISMA guidelines and JBI critical appraisal checklist were used to assure the quality of the review. Ten articles were included in this review. Data were extracted with Excel and exported to STATA 16 for analysis. Heterogeneity of literatures was evaluated using I2 statistics and publication bias using the Egger regression asymmetry test and the Duval and Tweedie trim-fill analysis. Statistical significance was declared at p value less than 0.05. The pooled estimate of institutional delivery among the pastoralist community in Ethiopia is 21.2% (95% CI: 16.2-26.1). Husbands who were involved to decide place of delivery (OR = 3.47; 95% CI: 1.61, 7.50), women with good knowledge of MCH services (OR = 2.283; 95% CI: 1.51, 3.44), women who had a positive attitude towards MCH services (OR = 1.69; 95% CI: 0.79, 3.6), availability of health institutions (OR = 2.6; 95% CI: 0.95, 7.20), and women who had an ANC follow-up (OR = 2.78; 95% CI: 2.07, 3.73) were higher institutional delivery prevalence among pastoralist women. Moreover, institutional delivery among women who were educated above the college level was more than two times (OR = 2.56; 95% CI: 1.985, 3.304) higher than among women who were not educated. Pastoralist women in Ethiopia were found to be a disadvantaged group for institutional delivery at national level. Husband involvement, educational level, ANC visit, knowledge and attitude for MCH service, and health facility distance were identified to have significant association with institutional delivery.

Livestock for Livelihoods: Role of Goats in Improving the Livelihood and Well-being of Women Pastoralists in Ethiopia and Uganda

Abstract Farm Africa worked with semi-nomadic pastoralist women living in the South Omo region of Ethiopia and Karamoja subregion in Uganda, thereby supporting them to set up sustainable, small-scale goat-rearing enterprises that contributed to increased household income, improved dietary diversity and nutritional status of their families. The project also supported community-based animal health service delivery as part of the integrated approach. Livestock is the main source of livelihood for the pastoralist communities in East Africa, though disease, drought and degraded grasslands make it unproductive. Rural women in pastoralist communities in Ethiopia and Uganda lack nutritional knowledge, financial skills, credit access and a voice in household decision making, which result in them having a low economic status and which contribute to malnutrition. Declining animal health services, due in part to reduced government capacity, exacerbate the challenge of increasing goat productivity. Farm Africa through the Livestock for Livelihoods project (March 2019–July 2021) supported 10,000 women to improve their socio-economic status and improve household nutrition. It supported women beneficiaries to be more economically empowered through access to finance provided by Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) and facilitated them to be involved in profitable enterprises in the goat value chain (goat breeding, leather tanning and milk value addition). These activities stimulated livelihood diversification and trade, contributing to reduced levels of poverty and malnutrition. Some of the remarkable results include increased revenue that women acquired from the sale of live goats, meat, hides, skins and milk; improved dietary diversity in children under 5 years and women; and increased Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) scores. This project created and strengthened a network of Community-Based Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) linked to agro-input dealers to enhance pastoralists’ access to quality animal health services. A total of 155 CAHWs (127 men and 28 women) in the two countries were empowered to provide animal health services to the pastoralists across the project area. The logo of Farm Africa. Information © The Author 2023

The impact of a State-sponsored irrigation project on Karrayu Pastoralists in Ethiopia

This article examines how a project intended to help local pastoralists facilitates the accumulation of wealth among elites at the expense of the local people. The data was collected qualitatively from five villages classified spatially based on the variability of water availability and access along the catchment. It was gathered through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observation, which were then analyzed using a thematic data analysis strategy. The findings indicate that the Project associated with privatising communal land has transformed land-related social and production relationships. It has been characterisedby the development ofexploitative sharecropping arrangements involving multiple actors and marketing relationships. Landowners pastoralists have marginally benefited while capitalists maximize wealth without dispossessing the locals from their land, i.e., accumulation without dispossession. The study concludes that the Project served as a tool to reinforce local exploitation by dispossessing profit gains from their land while allowing external investors to grow and prosper. Finally, the article suggests a policy implication aimed at strengthening households’ capacity so that local pastoralists can farm independently on their land and reap the full benefits.

Government through clanship: Governing Ethiopia’s Somali pastoralists through a community-based social protection programme

Drawing on an analysis of the implementation of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in the Somali periphery, we consider how the programme is promoted as an ‘innovative’ social protection programme that links food security with development projects. Underpinning its ‘innovative’ role is a community-based approach, focusing upon the institutions, values and capacities of a community. Taking the case of the nomadic pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Somali region, we consider the role of clans as the ‘dominant’ grassroot socio-political organizations. Our analysis, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork shows how in the implementation of PSNP the mobilization and (re)deployment of clanship values and rules create legible and governable Somali pastoral subjects. This is in line with the Ethiopian state’s conception of ‘improvement’ and ‘modern’ way of life based on sedentary-based development and governance. We illustrate how clan leaders unwittingly (re)organize their clan (leadership) values and capacities to support this project. We argue that clan-based implementation of PSNP has become an ‘effective’ mechanism of extending state power and governing nomadic pastoralists, leading to changes in relations of authority and in forms of (inter)subjectivity between pastoralists, their clan (leaders) and the state. Towards this end, we put forward the concept of ‘government through clanship’ to reflect the assemblage of these practices, processes and changes which would offer critical analytical insights into social policies claimed to be community-based.

Water and Emotion: Testing a New Approach for Monitoring Water Security Among Afar Pastoralists in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has over 12 million pastoralists that raise livestock and move their herds in search of fresh pasture and water. This way of life is especially vulnerable to climate change as drought and shifts in seasonal rainfall patterns are changing the distribution and availability of these resources in pastoralist regions. The dynamic use of water within these settings is also not well-understood or captured by conventional water sector monitoring systems, which prevents appropriate supportive interventions and policies to be delivered. This paper presents results from a study into a new approach to measuring water security that focuses on assessing the emotional response of pastoralist populations to their water security situation. Formative research involving focus groups and interviews was followed by a survey of 148 pastoralists to assess their emotional response to different water security dimensions. The results indicate that emotional response can be used to elicit valuable insights into water security and provide a powerful complement to conventional water security monitoring techniques. Using the approach, we show a strong relationship between variation in seasonal water access and reported emotional response. Negative emotions also strongly associate with the most laborious methods of collecting water such as scoop holes and hand dug wells, whereas positive emotions were associated with access to higher quantities of water. Access to equines for carrying water was associated with more positive emotional well-being indicating a route to water security improvement in this context could be through the provision of donkeys and mules for water carrying. The paper discusses the value of using an emotion-based approach to capture experiences of water security alongside more conventional objective measures, especially among populations with water use patterns that continue to be poorly understood.

Sugar industrialization and distress selling of livestock among the Bodi pastoralists in Ethiopia\u2019s lower Omo valley

This article, based on long-term fieldwork, argues that the Bodi, a small agro-pastoral community in Ethiopia’s lower Omo Valley, are experiencing distress selling of livestock and are undergoing collective impoverishment. These processes are a result of the rapid comprehensive transformations unfolding in the valley, which are themselves a product of the state’s aggressive resource extraction interests. These interests mainly relate to the building of the Gilgel Gibe III dam on the Omo River and the establishment of large-scale sugar estates. Increased insecurity in the valley followed these interventions. When combined, these changes resulted in the deterioration of the food security and livelihood situations of the Bodi, and the community attempted to cope by selling animals from their herds. Hence, the main reasons for market engagement relate to (1) coping with hunger, (2) coping with a high incidence of animal diseases and (3) coping with high rates of imprisonment of men. The Bodi also engage in three constrained livelihood alternatives: rain-fed farming, irrigated farming and wage employment. This article recommends that resolving the Bodi’s erosion of livelihoods necessitates addressing insecurity and the related socio-political outcomes, which lie at the heart of the Bodi’s dwindling livelihood situation and impoverishment.

Market knowledge as a driver of sustainable use of common-pool resources: A lab-in-the-field study among pastoralists in Ethiopia

Rural communities that depend on common-pool resources for their livelihoods are being increasingly affected by the expanding global market system. Because such market integration is still relatively thin, communities vary in terms of market comprehension. Using a common-pool resource dilemma experiment, this study examines the effect of market knowledge on decisions concerning the use of common-pool resources among Borana pastoralists. Participants chose to use shared grazing rangelands at low or high levels of grazing intensity. Depending on the resource-use decisions in previous rounds, the participants encountered different pasture-availability conditions that required them to make trade-offs between their short-term interests and the long-term sustainability of the shared rangelands. The results indicate that, when resource conditions were good, resource users with more market knowledge are more likely to choose lower grazing intensity. During scarcity, this effect is weaker. The results further show that within-group variance in market knowledge has a negative effect on decisions relating to sustainable-resource use in times of resource scarcity. The results imply that providing an understanding of market functioning is of vital importance to protecting shared natural resources from depletion in communities experiencing increasing impact from the global market economy.

The Quest for Greener Pastures: Evaluating the Livelihoods Impacts of Providing Vegetation Condition Maps to Pastoralists in Eastern Africa

Pastoral households are faced with making migration decisions under increasing uncertainty about resource availability and limited coping strategies due to mounting socioeconomic and climatic stressors. We assess the potential of providing vegetation condition maps to support the migration decisions of pastoralists in Ethiopia and Tanzania and the impact of map usage on their herd condition and size. The maps were generated from remotely sensed data using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as a proxy for vegetation condition and overlain with pastoralists' preferred grazing areas. We surveyed pastoralists before maps were distributed (baseline), and approximately a year (midline), and two years (endline) after map distribution began. Map adopters in both countries reported an overwhelmingly positive experience and stated the maps were accurate and helpful. However, the use of maps for migration decisions was low in the follow-up periods, partly due to challenges in map distribution (26% and 2% in Ethiopia; and 35% and 29% in Tanzania at midline and endline respectively). Map usage was associated with improved animal condition in Tanzania, but we find no causal evidence that map usage affected herd size in the randomized controlled trial in Ethiopia.

The Impact of Climate Change on Pastoralist Livelihoods in Ethiopia: A Review

Pastoralism contributed a lot to the economy of the Africa. In Ethiopia, about 10 million pastoralists rely on animal husbandry as a key source of wealth and subsistence. The livestock sub-sector accounts for 20% of Ethiopia’s GDP, with the national herd inhabiting Ethiopia’s vast lowland periphery. So as to support pastoralists in Ethiopia, governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and amongst other actors, have intervened in various ways. Notwithstanding those remarkable efforts, pastoralist in different parts of Ethiopia operates over increasingly degraded rangeland due to increasing bush encroachment, population growth, agricultural encroachment, land degradation, blocked migration routes and conflict triggered over scarce natural resources. Having this fact, this review was initiated with the aim of exploring pastoral livelihood system in Ethiopia and impacts of climate change on pastoral livelihoods. Reviewed empirical evidence shows that, pastoralist in Ethiopia have engaged on various economic activities which include livestock rearing, crop farming, petty trade, hand craft activities, wood and charcoal sale and casual labor. Moreover, changes in climatic factors directly affected natural resources, livestock yields , caused animal and human disease epidemics, and loss of animals in pastoral areas. Therefore, attention should be given on strengthening pastoralist livelihood diversification through providing training on entrepreneurship, how to pool capital together to finance their economic activities, and ensuring finance and market access for pastoralist. As they are living in water scarce environment, special attention should also be given on encouraging participatory soil and water conservation practices, communal watershed and rangeland management. Keywords: Pastoralism, Livelihood, Climate change DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/63-02 Publication date: March 31 st 2020

Bovine tuberculosis at the human–livestock–wildlife interface and its control through one health approach in the Ethiopian Somali Pastoralists: A review

Pastoralism is a way of life in which food supply is produced from animals by using a variety of herding practices based on constant or partial herd mobility in the low land areas of Ethiopia. It covers 12% of the total livestock population and 61% of the total area of land in the country. As a result of their mobile lifestyle, pastoralists are almost completely excluded from the available health services. This review article focuses on bovine tuberculosis in the Ethiopian Somali Pastoralist. It describes Mycobacterium bovis in humans, livestock, and wildlife, and how the disease can be controlled by using One Health approach. Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis. A study done from 2006 to 2008 on the prevalence of BTB in Ethiopian wildlife showed that sera from 20 of 87 animals (23%) were positive for BTB. In Ethiopia there is no comprehensive report about the status of M. bovis in wildlife populations that often share habitat with livestock. A study done on bovine tuberculosis in Somali pastoral livestock showed low prevalence of the disease. An individual animal prevalence of 2.0%, 0.4%, and 0.2% was reported in cattle, camels, and goats, respectively. In a simultaneous human and cattle study in a pastoralist areas of south-eastern Ethiopia, out of 163 human Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates three were M. bovis. Due to the moderate resistance of the etiological agent to the environmental conditions in one hand and the capacity of its survival in acid milk for not less than 15 days on the other and the habitual consumption of unpasteurized milk by humans make this disease a vital zoonosis in Somali pastoralists in Ethiopia. M. bovis is a pathogen at the human-livestock-wildlife interface. Diseases transmitted between humans, livestock, and wildlife are increasingly challenging public and veterinary health systems. Therefore, studies concerning the burden of the diseases in wildlife, livestock and human beings in Somali Pastoralists should be undertaken. A One Health approach that takes the wellbeing of the pastoralists, the health of their livestock and environment into consideration is also necessary for the control of BTB.

A framework for targeting water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in pastoralist populations in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Globally, many populations face structural and environmental barriers to access safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Among these populations are many of the 200 million pastoralists whose livelihood patterns and extreme environmental settings challenge conventional WASH programming approaches. In this paper, we studied the Afar pastoralists in Ethiopia to identify WASH interventions that can mostly alleviate public health risks, within the population's structural and environmental living constraints. Surveys were carried out with 148 individuals and observational assessments made in 12 households as part of a Pastoralist Community WASH Risk Assessment. The results show that low levels of access to infrastructure are further compounded by risky behaviours related to water containment, storage and transportation. Additional behavioural risk factors were identified related to sanitation, hygiene and animal husbandry. The Pastoralist Community WASH Risk Assessment visually interprets the seriousness of the risks against the difficulty of addressing the problem. The assessment recommends interventions on household behaviours, environmental cleanliness, water storage, treatment and hand hygiene via small-scale educational interventions. The framework provides an approach for assessing risks in other marginal populations that are poorly understood and served through conventional approaches.

Bacteriological quality and safety of ready-to-consume milk and naturally fermented milk in Borana pastoral area, southern Ethiopia.

Milk and milk products play an important role in the diet of pastoralists in Ethiopia. However, only few studies have been conducted on the microbial contamination of milk and milk products in pastoral areas. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to assess the hygiene and safety of ready-to-consume milk and traditionally produced fermented milk products (yogurt) in Borana. A total of 203 raw milk and milk product samples collected from different points along the milk production and handling chains were tested for Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, and Staphylococcus aureus. E. coli was detected in 51.7% of the analyzed samples with a mean count of 2.5logCFU/ml. The study revealed that 10.8% and 2.5% of the milk and dairy product samples harbor S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7, respectively. Detection of E. coli O157:H7 in ready-to-consume milk has potential health implications for consumers in an area where raw milk consumption is common. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of E. coli O157:H7 from milk in pastoral systems in Ethiopia.

Linking Social Capital and Microsavings: Lesson from Thrifty Saving Behavior of Afar Pastoralists of Ethiopia

Linking Social Capital and Microsavings: Lesson from Thrifty Saving Behavior of Afar Pastoralists of Ethiopia

Taming requirements in the domestication process of donkeys: The methods and concepts of the training among the Afar pastoralists in Ethiopia

To clarify the system involved in the initial domestication of asses, this study explores breaking and the consequent establishment of tameness through focusing on a human ecological approach based on reports of the epigenetic inheritance of human-induced stress in animals. The research subjects are Afar pastoralists who use donkeys for packing loads in two areas (A and B) in the Afar Regional State of Ethiopia; both areas are home to an endangered species of wild ass. Interviews were conducted on the methods of wild ass capture that caused initial human-induced stress. Next, the method currently adopted for breaking donkeys for packing which the Afar pastoralists considered to promote tameness was investigated. The number of informants from Community (A) who answered in the negative to the possibility of capturing wild asses for domestication was significantly greater than those who replied in the positive. However, four suggestions were made for capturing wild asses for domestication. In both areas, the target age for breaking the donkeys for packing was 1 to 3 years inclusively. Differences, however, were seen between Afar communities with regard to whether training for packing should happen in a series of processes and with regard to the number of days needed for the process. The training methods characteristically used in both areas includes forelimbs tying, jaw tying, and ears tying. A combination of these methods was observed to be a neuro-physiologically effective approach, promoting obedience while controlling stress; stress caused by jaw and forelimbs tying was nullified by ears tying, which produced an analgesic effect. Therefore, for domestication during the ancient period and maintaining the tame status of donkeys, the age for training for packing and controlling stress by tying the forelimbs, jaws, and ears might have been the effective techniques in taming the animal through epigenetic mutations.

Education inclusion as a border regime: implications for mobile pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Afar region

This paper extends and enriches debates on migration, borders and education by conceptualising education inclusion as a border regime. It applies a regime analysis to illustrate the borders of education inclusion for a community that migration studies have hitherto neglected: mobile pastoralists. It argues that education inclusion signifies a new form of social belonging and border crossing that many mobile pastoralists are undertaking, often precipitated by dispossession from their traditional, mobile livelihood. Supported by empirical data from Ethiopia’s Afar region, the regime analysis reveals how educational opportunity for these learners is regulated by border ‘checkpoints’. It identifies persisting and emerging inequalities of opportunity under current regimes of education inclusion that challenge the Sustainable Development Goal pledges to reach the last first. A re-appraisal of scholarly boundaries is called for to support the interdisciplinary effort needed to place mobile pastoralists among those who count first.

Intervention pathways towards improving the resilience of pastoralists: A study from Borana communities, southern Ethiopia

Abstract Building resilient communities towards recurrent droughts is increasingly becoming an important element in development endeavours, particularly among communities vulnerable to shocks and stresses. Despite decades of remarkable efforts made by governmental and non-governmental organization, the resilience capacity of pastoralists in Ethiopia remains poor. The aim of this study is to test the statistical relationships among the resilience dimensions that emerged through community consultations, and to identify the intervention pathways for effective resilience building efforts. Data were collected from 1058 randomly sampled households in Arero and Dhas districts of Borana Zone, Southern Ethiopia. The data were collected through interviewer administered structured questionnaire and observational checklist. Principal component analyses were done to develop composite scores of the different resilience dimensions. Structural equation model (SEM) verified the theoretical model. The SEM also revealed that resilience towards impact of recurrent droughts was multi-dimensional and showed statistically significant (p