ABSTRACT
Once again, the Horn of Africa has been in the headlines. And once again the news has been bad: drought, famine, conflict, hunger, suffering and death. The finger of blame has been pointed in numerous directions: to the changing climate, to environmental degradation, to overpopulation, to geopolitics and conflict, to aid agency failures, and more. But it is not all disaster and catastrophe. Many successful development efforts at ‘the margins’ often remain hidden, informal, sometimes illegal; and rarely in line with standard development prescriptions. If we shift our gaze from the capital cities to the regional centres and their hinterlands, then a very different perspective emerges. These are the places where pastoralists live. They have for centuries struggled with drought, conflict and famine. They are resourceful, entrepreneurial and innovative peoples. Yet they have been ignored and marginalised by the states that control their territory and the development agencies who are supposed to help them. This book argues that, while we should not ignore the profound difficulties of creating secure livelihoods in the Greater Horn of Africa, there is much to be learned from development successes, large and small.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars with an interest in development studies and human geography, with a particular emphasis on Africa. It will also appeal to development policy-makers and practitioners.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|55 pages
Resources and production
chapter 3|10 pages
Rangeland Enclosures in Southern Oromia, Ethiopia
chapter 5|14 pages
Counting The Costs
part II|45 pages
Commercialization and markets
chapter 7|13 pages
Moving Up or Moving Out?
chapter 8|10 pages
Pastoralists' Innovative Responses to New Camel Export Market Opportunities on the Kenya/Ethiopia Borderlands
chapter 9|11 pages
‘Responsible Companies’ and African Livestock-Keepers
chapter |9 pages
Town Camels and Milk Villages
part III|66 pages
Land and conflict
chapter 13|10 pages
Land Deals and the Changing Political Economy of Livelihoods in the Tana Delta, Kenya
chapter 14|13 pages
Squeezed from All Sides
part IV|45 pages
Alternative livelihoods
chapter 18|9 pages
Reaching Pastoralists with Formal Education
chapter 20|9 pages
Women and Economic Diversification in Pastoralist Societies
part V|9 pages
Endpiece