NEW BOOK ‘RAIN, PROSPERITY AND PEACE’ DESCRIBES

 

GLOBAL PASTORALIST GATHERING IN ETHIOPIA

 

(Reissued as received.)

ADDIS ABABA, 9 May (OCHA) -- A new book, published by the Institute of Development Studies, tells the story of the Global Pastoralist Gathering when 200 pastoralists from 23 countries met in Ethiopia earlier this year.

“Rain, Prosperity and Peace” is a series of articles detailing the lives and struggles of some of the world’s 200 million pastoralists -- people who herd livestock across thinly populated lands.

Organized by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Pastoralist Communication Initiative and funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development, the Global Pastoralist Gathering was an unprecedented event.  It was held in a quintessentially pastoralist environment -- a tented camp beside a dry river bed in remote southern Ethiopia and it provided an opportunity for herders to exchange views and develop strategies to deal with the common challenges they face.

Mongolians discussed trade with Peruvians; Ethiopians discussed education with Iranians; Malians and Mauritanians discussed political organization with Argentines, Kenyans and Tanzanians.  African pastoralists were delighted to meet pastoralists from Wales and Spain, whilst an Indian pastoralist impressed the other participants with his tales of raising domesticated buffalo.  Local pastoralist groups in conflict with each other also used the gathering as a place to make peace.

Pastoralists rely on collaboration, mobility and markets and are generally recognized as expert custodians of fragile ecologies.  Research shows that African livestock systems can produce more energy, protein and cash per hectare than Australian and United States ranches.

Coming from the four corners of the world, what unites pastoralists is their focus on mobile livestock herding in unpredictable yet productive natural environments.  They are also united by their struggle against encroachment on their grazing land, and marginalization from the politics and interests of governments.

Despite the contribution made by pastoralists, many governments try to “settle” pastoralists, depriving them of their traditional ways of living.  In order to ensure that they have access to education, health care and clean water, pastoralists are demanding that facilities such as mobile schools be made available to them.

Without progress on these issues, the Millennium Development Goals will remain a distant dream for pastoralists.  Widening gaps between poor pastoralists and rich others, growing frustration at erosion of rights and loss of land and increasing destitution will lead to conflict and migration.

The Pastoralist Communication Initiative is a groundbreaking project, which aims to raise the profile and voice of pastoralists.  The Gathering and the book are just part of a constellation of efforts to promote their role in governance and policy processes around the world.  The Pastoralist Communication Initiative will continue to work with the United Nations, the Institute of Development Studies and the United Kingdom Department for International Development to provide opportunities for pastoralists to meet one another at global, regional and national levels.

Pastoralist leaders are demanding opportunities to share knowledge and develop collaborations, among themselves and with governments, to call them to account, to hold them to their promises and ultimately to sustain their ways of living.

To receive your free hard copy of “Rain, Prosperity and Peace”, please contact scott-villiers@un.org or visit www.ocha-eth.org to download a PDF version.

The Institute of Development Studies is one of the world’s leading research, teaching and communications centres on international development.  UN OCHA/PCI is collaboration between the United Kingdom Department for International Development, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and the Institute of Development Studies.

Contacts:  OCHA Senait Arefaine 251 1 444186; PCI Patta Scott-Villiers 251 1 09216462

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