Economic contribution of pastoral and agro pastoral production to food security and livelihoods systems in Africa: The case of Eastern Sudan, Eritrea and Western Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa.

Abstract

The paper provides a broad context to the current status of pastoralism and agro-pastoralism in the Horn of Africa from a food security and smallholder livelihoods perspectives. It argues that the significant contribution pastoral and agro pastoral livestock producers make to domestic, national and regional food security is often misrepresented and such contribution to food security is regularly unappreciated by policy makers at State level. Such an attitude is reflected in national and regional government policy perspectives which often do not apportion adequate financial and human resources to help the sector develop to its fullest potential.

The paper argues that pastoralism and agro-pastoralism (i.e. as an environmentally/ socially sustainable livelihood system) is going through a serious self generated and externally driven evolving process which may be irreversible. Thus a change of the pastoralist production system from subsistence to more commercial orientation may be feasible. This reality, the authors believe, is so fundamental that government planners, researchers, international organizations and funders must recognise this if they wish to contribute to the wellbeing of pastoral peoples from a food security dimension in the Horn of Africa region.

Drawing from authors’ experiences from Eastern Sudan, Western Ethiopia and Western Eritrea, they demonstrate  the significant economic contribution small producers make to food security within the Region as well as the Middle East, the key challenges they face and recommend ways in which such contribution could be enhanced at national and regional levels.