---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: IRIN <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 5:32 PM Subject: In Brief: Pastoralists have their own solutions To: Jean-Francois Darcq <[email protected]>
In Brief: Pastoralists have their own solutions NAIROBI, 21 September 2011 (IRIN) - Pastoralists' mechanisms for managing their resources and determining access rights among different communities in the Kenya-Ethiopia borderlands should be given much more attention at the national policy level if the viability of pastoralism is to be strengthened, states a new report. "The rangelands are not open tracts of idle land, over which pastoralists and their livestock move randomly to use water and grazing land," states a Humanitarian Policy Group September Working Paper, Rules of the range: natural resources management in Kenya-Ethiopia border areas. [ http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/5976.pdf ] "Rather, the existence and enforcement of customary rules and norms of reciprocity around natural resources management have historically played a key role in controlling and regulating both land use and social relations between ethnic groups." But traditional herd movement is being threatened by activities such as the expropriation of rangeland for irrigation farming, fragmentation by settlements and conflict. Mobility has often been blamed for fuelling conflict but mobility is the cure, not the problem, says the study, arguing that "conflict, food insecurity and land degradation are mainly the results of policies designed to restrict mobility". It recommends the recognition of the cross-border nature of pastoralism and the involvement of customary land institutions in rangeland management. aw/mw [END] This report online: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=93785 © IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org/ [This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx IRIN partners: UAE, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, UNEP and the IHC. More information: http://www.irinnews.org/donors.aspx This mail is from an automatic address. Contact IRIN at: [email protected]. Revise/stop your subscription: http://bit.ly/9nCoUP ] Subscribed email: [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
