Conservation agriculture – the practice of not plowing farmlands and leaving crop residue in the field for improved soil fertility and water conservation – is used by a majority of farmers in Australia, Brazil and by many in North America and other middle and highincome countries. Research and testing of the approach since the 1960s has confirmed to these countries that conservation agriculture brings optimal production at the best cost. In the world’s drylands agro-ecosystems and the marginal farming areas of low-income countries, conservation agriculture can bring direct benefits to smallholder farmers. The practice has the potential to benefit food security in many drylands agro-ecosystems in Central and West Asia, the Middle East and in North and sub-Saharan Africa.

For low-income countries, today’s paradox for conservation agriculture is that it can benefit their smallholder farmers at minimal additional cost; but this thinking has so far not been recognized by their food security planners and policy makers. Likewise, donors and development partners active in rural development have yet to embrace the practice as a viable approach to improve livelihoods in low-income countries – even as this is how much of their agriculture is managed at home.

The two factors needed for the successful adoption of conservation agriculture for drylands farming are appropriate technologies and a favorable policy environment. Locally-made low-cost seeders are needed and require a local market for repair and technical services to farmers. These markets are taking shape today, and are expected to mature in the medium term.

But probably the most critical factor needed to encourage the uptake of conservation agriculture is a change in perception among decision makers in low-income countries. For conservation agriculture to spread, ministry officials, extension services and influential large-scale farmers in these regions need to be engaged and informed of the benefits. ICARDA’s work over the past five years in Syria and Iraq, has shown that as a small number of farmers try the approach, news of the results can rapidly travel to neighboring villages and towns. This report contains examples, thinking and evidence. Its goal is to help policy makers and development partners better appreciate how conservation agriculture works, so they can formulate programs to evaluate how it can contribute to their rural development and food security goals, paving the way for its adoption in a national agricultural strategy.

The report has a dual objective:

- to illustrate the constraints, opportunities and potential for the sustainable rural and agricultural development of dry areas;

- to make recommendations for decision-makers and operators involved in international development cooperation with a view to consolidating policies supporting the sustainability of the production systems in these areas.

This report is based on a series of case studies which highlight specific development cooperation experiments and provide support for more theoretical considerations. The aim is to identify courses of action geared towards the sustainable management of agro-ecosystems in dry areas and to analyse their integration in the adaptation and planning strategies of rural territories. In doing so, the report facilitates progress in defining the specific challenges facing these areas, in particular in terms of development of technical innovations, governance of land and natural resources, involvement of the local communities, support for family farming activities, promotion of agricultural products from dry areas and consolidation of public policies.

Climate change is one of the most serious threats to sustainable development, both currently and in the future. Adverse impacts of climate change have already been observed on natural resources, food security, human health, the environment, economic activity and physical infrastructures (IISD 2007). Drylands of Africa are one of the most vulnerable regions and severely affected by the current climate change and variability.

Kordofan region comprising the States of North and South Kordofan is situated in the mid-west of Sudan and it covers an area of about 380 000 km², representing 20% of the total area of the country .More than 90% of the region’s total area is drylands and crop and livestock production are the main livelihood sources for over 80% of the population. Farming is dominated by small-scale farmers and carried out under risky environmental conditions and fragile natural resources base. This region was identified by The NAPA (2007) as particularly vulnerable to climate change and in terms of sustainability climate change is considered as the most serious threat to drylands farming both currently and in the future. HCENR case studies in Sudan (Kordofan region) confirmed that there is ample evidence of climate change during the last three decades and projections (1961-2060) indicated that there is a continuous decline in sorghum and millet yields and by 2060 this decline is expected to reach 72 and 62 %, respectively. Indicators suggest that there is a considerable drop in rainfall, rise in temperature, increased rainfall variability, rainfall onset, short growing season and accelerated land degradation. These changes will affect traditional smallholder farmers in this region through: Increased likelihood of crop failure; Increase in diseases and mortality of livestock; loss of biodiversity; increased livelihood insecurity; conflicts; outmigration and dependency on food aid. 

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), also confirmed that climate change occurring in dry areas in more rapid rate and will make dryland agriculture even more risk-prone especially in the developing world. Further ICRISAT(2009), has released innovations for the adaptation of dryland agriculture to reduce the impacts of climate change and, the adoption of these innovations will result in substantial increase in yields that could completely offset the negative impacts of climate change on yields as noted by William Dar, ICRISAT Director General.

Accordingly, there is an urgent need for stepped up efforts to cope and adapt to the effects of climate change in Kordofan region. Thus a wide variety of adaptation options and innovations have been proposed as having the potential to reduce vulnerability of drylands agricultural systems to risks related to climate change. It is therefore important to immediately test and implement these innovations to better cope with current climatic variability and its adverse effects such as food insecurity.

The study results did not support government’s claim that Ethiopia’s inflation is a non-monetary phenomenon. On the contrary, monetary developments remain important and significant factors in explaining high food inflation in Ethiopia. Large and persistent budget deficits, rapid expansion of domestic credit, the growth of treasury bills, the shift from food aid to cash transfers and other things contribute to the rapid growth in money supply and put pressure on prices. Hence, a forceful policy tightening might be required to reduce the current soaring food prices in the country. The money supply is the ‘Black-box’ that this study has discovered as a major source of the current soaring food prices in the country. It is an important factor expected by donors and economists, even though the government claims the hoarding of goods by traders and the unbalanced growth of different sectors as the main causes. Moreover, there are also other important factors that explain Ethiopia’s soaring food inflation, including the general price level, world grain price index, lagged world DAP price index, domestic benzene price index, non-food price index and shocks in the goods and money markets. The continuous depreciation of Birr against dollar and the degree of inflation inertia are also important factors causing food inflation in the country. Moreover, results show that the soaring food inflation is almost uniformly distributed among regions.

Though rises in agricultural prices may have stimulating effects on the agricultural sector, and hence a positive income effect on the rural households who are net sellers, it has a substantial negative welfare effect on net-food buyer rural households such as pastoralists, food-insecure and resource poor households. Moreover, since the rise in the prices of some inputs outweighs the rise in agricultural prices its effect on the net seller rural households is also minimal. Therefore, stabilization policies in order to dampen inflation expectations on prices, a prudent fiscal policy as a tool for a sustained economic growth and as a means of avoiding sources of macroeconomic imbalance are quite apparent possible means to reduce the rapidly rising agricultural prices.

Results of market imperfection analyses show that markets in most Ethiopian regions are weak and at their infancy stages. Particularly, markets in the pastoralist areas are poorly developed and in most cases inaccessible to the pastoralists. As evidenced by many studies, markets in Ethiopia are inefficient. They are not responsive to economic incentives such as price, wage rate, interest rate, etc; they are weakly integrated both spatially and temporally; marketing margins are large; market actors are few and have much power to influence prices; there are information asymmetry; etc. The outcome is higher prices for final consumers, very low prices for producers, and abnormally high profits for market intermediaries. Hence, production and consumption will be less than optimal. In the absence of the necessary market infrastructure, producer organizations and collective marketing groups provide alternative 

institutional innovations to enhance the uptake of market-oriented and productivity-enhancing technologies, to link farmers to markets, and foster market participation and commercialization of smallholder production.

Results of the enforcement contracts show that the encouragement of private institutions’ involvement in relational contract enforcement is found to be less costly and efficient. Because of interlinked incentives, brokers’ involvement in the enforcement of relational marketing contacts was found to be the most important one. The analysis of factors affecting the enforcement of agricultural products marketing contracts using Logit model identified duration of the relationship, age and frequency of transaction as the significant factors affecting the enforcement of relational contracts between producers and traders positively, while the deteriorating traditional values and transaction costs have a significant negative impact. An effective enforcement of agricultural products marketing contracts may be achieved through governmental and/or private institutions interventions that target market information access, development of cooperatives and traditional institutions and associated support programmes.

The analysis of the terms of trade between livestock and cereals for pastoral households shows that the price of livestock and their products has risen faster than that of cereals recently, diminishing the purchasing power of cereal producing households, and thereby eroding their terms of trade. Given that more than two thirds of the pastoralists are destitute, the effect that the favourable terms of trade have on pastoral households’ livelihood might not be significant. In a situation where most households do not have more livestock to sell to buy more amount of food, the effect goes to the few households who are net sellers. Appropriate intervention measures by policy makers and development partners that target improvement of production and productivity of livestock, livelihood diversification, provision of market information and infrastructure that improves the decision-making of the households might improve the effect of ‘favourable’ terms of trade for pastoral households. If pastoralists are able to produce more livestock they get better returns, the cash generated meets expenditures for goods and services that they cannot produce at home, including non-animal source foods, along with the opportunity to improve the unstable terms of trade. This not only helps them to improve their livelihood and health of their households, but also creates demand for other goods and services in the local and national market arenas, thus promoting trade and economic growth.

Serious dry season feed shortage is a common phenomenon in marginal and semi-arid area of Ethiopia. The reason is that during the dry season, most of the households of pastoral communities having private landholding stopped practicing seasonal mobility to search feed and water. As result, the wet season grazing landscapes are severely exposed to continuous grazing throughout the year, which will in turn lead to vegetation and soil degradation. The recurrent drought also affects seasonal mobility of pastoral households due to livestock losses and leaves many with few heads of livestock (Yonnis, 2002). The use of wet season grazing landscapes for crop production (private farming) also exposes the ecosystem to extreme soil degradation. This will eventually, under mine the potential to achieve, food insecurity for vulnerable households whose livelihood is entirely depend on livestock production (Amaha, 2006).  

Lack of moisture also interrupts the late growth and seeding of long cycle crops (maize and sorghum) which negatively affects realizing food security through food-crop production. This late growth interruption leads to the use of long cycle crops as a potential source of livestock feed in dry season and drought period, although they are harvested after losing their feed quality.

Pastoralists in Jijiga plains have recently developed an innovative practice in the use of sorghum and maize residue as a source of livestock feed in the dry season and drought period (Belaynesh et al, 2009). A few pastoralists have experience conserving limited size of standing hay in their private landholdings to be grazed in dry season. However, crop residue and conserved standing hay lose their feed quality before providing sufficient nutrients to the animals. During the wet season, considerable amount of the natural pasture is misused, that could be properly conserved for the dry season during which there is a serious feed shortage. This underutilized productive resource that will be mobilized with limited investment can be achieved by introducing small-scale feed conservation technologies. For instance, conserved sorghum/maize residues in the form of silage improve feed quality than used as it is. Similarly natural pastures sanding hay have low feed value than harvested one.  

In dry-lands of Ethiopia, livestock production takes place in uncertain environment which posses challenge to achieve food security and reduce poverty. Developing dry season feed conservation options for sustainable livestock production can better contribute to achieving food security, and support the national poverty reduction strategy. Moreover, as is a new innovation it enables sedentarized pastoralists to use alternative feed resources to adapt challenges from unpredictable environment that exposed them for critical dry season feed shortage.

There have been a number of studies under taken on rangeland conditions (Ahmed, 2003; Belaynesh, 2006; Amaha, 2006; Abule, 2007), its rehabilitation potential (Amaha, 2006; Belaynesh, 2006; Shashe, 2007; Alemu, 2008) and feed resources characterization (Seyoum and Zenash, 2001). There are also studies emphasizing on identification of challenges and opportunities in pastoralists’ mobility as traditional grazing land management that helps conserve feed for dry season (Homann, et al., 2004; Proud, 2009). However, these did not address options in feed conservation technologies that could be relevant to sedentarised pastoral production systems. Therefore, it is imperative to asses and identifies potential feed resources and affordable feed conservations technologies that could be used for sustainable animal production in the regions.

Pastoralism is a livelihood system and a way of life for more than 10 million citizens accounting 12-15% of the total population in Ethiopia. The pastoral groups reside in six National Regional States of Ethiopia (Oromia, Somali, Afar, SNNP, Gambella, and Benishangul Gumuz). They inhabit the entire lowlands of the country, which constitutes about 61% of the country’s total landmass. These areas are prone to rainfall variability, extreme drought and flash floods. The people in the pastoral lowlands are mainly pastoralists and agro-pastoralists who have an immediate daily dependence on climate sensitive livelihoods and natural resources (pasture and water).

Arid and semi-arid grazing systems in East Africa are seen as highly vulnerable to a combination of climate change and socio-economic factors (Jones and Thornton, 2006). More generally, there is an assumption that pastoral areas face not only an increased risk of drought events, due to increased variability of rainfall but also higher temperatures (NAP 2007). In addition many recent studies pointed out that the increased frequency of meteorological drought episodes, unseasoned flash floods and outbreaks of diseases in the pastoral regions of Ethiopia.

In past frequent and prolonged droughts have claimed the livelihoods of people, destroyed crops, and contributed to the death of many animals. Ethiopia’s response to climate change today will bear directly on the food security and livelihood prospects of pastoralists. So far, efforts in Ethiopia to respond to the problem of growing climate change-induced hazards in the pastoral areas have been promising and expanding through time. Despite this, the scale and intensity of climate change-induced hazards (particularly drought, unseasoned floods, disease outbreaks, expansion of invasive bush species) is growing fast and the magnitude of damages from such climatic and natural hazards continue to rise. These all demonstrated the urgency of addressing the climate problem through initiating effective and realistic adaptation plans (which primarily focuses on utilizing and scaling up of locally available adaptation practices); and building institutional capacity in the hazard prone pastoral areas of the country.

The practical measure expected is to cope with the threat of climate change through the development of locally responsive and appropriate adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation to climatic variability may not be new for the pastoralists as there has always been variability in the weather patterns. The challenge, however, is to respond to both rapid and strong change in the current climate system. A diverse portfolio of location specific and sustainable adaptation as well as locally appropriate options is needs to be identified documented and utilized. In addition it is important to identify those available to the poor which at the same time are environment friendly as the poverty is the key factor of venerability.

Despite the wide publicity given to climate change, there is still very limited effort made in systematically documenting the locally available adaptation options in pastoral areas ready to use. In addition, the policy response is not as such strong as it should be because of lack of proved facts with sufficient data about the existing local adaptations practices. In order to support and strengthen the existing policy it is necessary to generate adequate information and evidence on the added value and practices of the prevailing local adaptation measures in systematic study so as to feed the policy environment. Moreover, intervention efforts of adaptation to climate change by both GO and NGO actors are not supported by well organized and systematically documented facts. Hence this project aims to bridge this gap by examining the pastoralists’ vulnerability to climate change, assessing local and institutional adaptation strategies and technologies, and documenting good practices and existing institutional arrangements for adapting to climate change.

The existing information and materials on climate change adaptation in pastoral areas are scattered, too general and more of exploring what pastoralists have and not have in terms of adapting and mitigating climate change effects. Therefore, the research will result in a comprehensive documentation of locally available technologies, strategies and good practices of to be exchanged across the pastoral regions. In that case practices, technologies available and institutional arrangements will be identified and analyzed and recommended to be implemented. Most of these practices are known but not studied to the level that they can be applied or scaled up in combination in pastoral areas. These various knowledge can be exploited and synergetic effects could be utilized. The information can be provided to the government and grass root pastoralists so that they could better adapt the effects of climate change thereby enhancing their resilience capacity.

The documentation will helps to exchange experience among the different group of pastoralists as the local adaptations are so diverse among the different groups of pastoralists; and to reinforce national and local level adaptation plans and programs.

An examination of Sudan's ecological zones indicates that the majority of its land is quite vulnerable to change in temperature and precipitation. The country's inherent vulnerability may best be captured by the fact that food security is mainly determined by rainfall, particularly in the rural areas where more than 65% of the population lives.

Mean annual temperature lies between 26º to 32º but in some places it reaches 47º C causing a lot of stresses and heat related diseases. Rainfall is erratic and varies significantly from the North to the South. The unreliable nature of rainfall together with its concentration during the short growing season increases the vulnerability of the rain-fed agricultural system. A trend of decreasing annual rainfall in the last 60 years (0.5%) and increased rainfall variability is contributing to drought conditions in many parts of the country. This pattern has led to serious and prolonged drought episodes. For example, Sudan experienced a succession of dry years from 1978 to 1987 resulting in severe social and economical impacts including many human and livestock fatalities and migration and displacement of several million people. Drought problems such as these will increase if trends continue.

Sudan also experienced many devastating floods, of two specific types, during the past several decades.  The first type occurs during torrential rain when high levels of water overflow the River Nile and its tributaries,   usually due to above normal rainy seasons in the Ethiopian Plateau. Severe floods were reported in 1946, 1988, 1994, 1998 and 2001. The other type of flood occurs as a result of heavy localized rainfall during the rainy summer season and such incidents were reported in 1952, 1962, 1965, 1978-1979, 1988 and 1997. In addition to drought and floods there are other climate extreme events such as dust storms, thunderstorms and heat waves whose occurrence though less frequent, still pose serious threat to local livelihood.

Beside the adverse economic impacts of these climate changes related phenomena there are also associated social impacts.  For example during drought events conflicts occur due to competition over diminished natural resources. Also - as has happened many times - food shortages lead to famine, followed by displacement and refugees which in turn leads to misuse of the natural resources that remain. During floods and droughts people typically move to cities where their arrival causes stress and shortages of already limited services. The displaced also live in very acute conditions that can lead to disturbances that undermine stability and security.

This project seeks to address the key challenges of soil degradation and related problems of drylands facing most resource-poor farmers and how improved zero tillage could provide a more suitable answer to these problems.

This study will critically assess the impacts of water harvesting techniques in relation to livelihood in the affected drought and flood prone areas.

Background

Although rainfall constitutes a major resource for water, it is lost almost completely through direct evaporation or through uncontrolled runoff (Oweis et al., 1999). The appropriate choice of water harvesting technique depends on the amount of rainfall and its distribution, soil type and depth, land topography, and local socioeconomic factors, and therefore these systems tend to be very site specific. Different indigenous techniques and systems were developed in different parts of the world, and they are still referred to in the literature by their traditional names, among which are Haffir and Teru in Sudan (Oweis et al., 1999).

The increase in desertification of agricultural land through changing climatic conditions and exploitation of the natural resources is forcing farmers and agro-pastoralists to adapt to their changing surroundings. This has led to the spread of water harvesting techniques particularly those aimed at catching water in times of flood, in arresting the problem of pastoralist movement, hence, changing the livelihoods of the affected communities in drought and flood prone areas of Southern Sudan.

Justification

High inter-annual variability and erratic rainfall distribution in space and time has contributed to water-limiting conditions during the cropping season. For such areas with inadequate rainfall or runoff-susceptible land, carefully selected water conservation and harvesting techniques offer the potential to secure agricultural production and reduce the financial risks associated with crop failure.

It has been noted that the worldwide potential for the introduction of water harvesting techniques has not been fully assessed especially in the arid and semi-arid areas (Oweis and Prinz 1994). It has also been recognized that, while more efficient technologies, such as rainwater harvesting can improve the plight of the poor, the mere creation of optimum techniques are not enough. The donor community has put in a lot of efforts on the development of water harvesting techniques, an example is Pact Sudan's Water for Recovery and Peace Program (WRAPP) which is one of the most comprehensive water projects that has been operating in Southern Sudan to date. WRAPP programs tackle comprehensive issues affected by water access, such as conflict resolution, gender empowerment, livelihoods and health. Its activities are spread throughout all the states in Southern Sudan and the transitional areas of Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile.

This study aims at reporting on the available traditional and introduced water harvesting techniques in Southern Sudan and assessing their effects and impacts on livelihoods. To enhance economic development and improved livelihoods in Southern Sudan, improved access to potable water for humans and increased water access for crops and livestock is of paramount importance. 

This study would provide a check for some of the existing water harvesting techniques, constraints in their adoption, and how they can be improved to enhance livelihood.

Pastoralism and agro-pastoralism as a means of livelihood have been supporting 12-13% of the Ethiopian population. They comprise 62% of the country’s land area and 25-30% of the livestock population comes from these areas (Beruk, 2005). The livestock sector contributes 18.8% to the total GDP and more than 47% to the agricultural GDP (Behnke and Metaferia, 2010). Recently, in Ethiopia and elsewhere, pastoralists have been facing serious livelihood challenges. They have been facing the natural covariant risk of drought; the idiosyncratic risks of human illness and livestock diseases, which can turn into a covariant risk in case of an epidemic; the social risk of violent conflict over increasingly scarce resources, which can turn into the risk of civil strife. That means pastoralists have been facing both political risk of marginalization and the environmental risk of pasture degradation. These lead to declining livestock production and productivity which is the main livelihood of these communities. Due to these reasons, the government of Ethiopia designed strategies that enable pastoralists to voluntarily sedentarize. Government reports and other studies show that pastoralists started diversifying into crop production, petty trades, wage, remittance, firewood and charcoal production, and incense collection. Government reports also show that the livelihoods of those who diversified their income have improved. 

Even though of sedentarizing pastoralists by the government has long history (E.g., 1925-1941 in Iran) in an attempt to alleviate problems of food insecurity, service delivery, and national integration it usually ended up with limited success. Sedentarization of pastoralists has also been occurring rapidly throughout East Africa (FAO, 2001). According to the same source, worldwide, although the majority of pastoralists in many areas remain committed to a nomadic way of life, considerable number of pastoralists have settled near towns or on farms to pursue alternate livelihoods that include cultivation, agro-pastoralism, trade or wage labor.

There are opposing views on whether pastoralists should be sedentarized or not. Those who are proponents of sedentarization argue that pastoralists should sedentarize for a variety of reasons, both in response to 'pushes' away from the pastoral economy and to 'pulls' of urban or agricultural life. For example, the Kereyu tribe in the central rift valley of Ethiopia has lost grazing lands due to the growth of agricultural and pastoral populations, privatization of land for commercial farms and ranches, and the expansion of national wildlife parks and hence was forced to sedentarize. In the more arid and sparsely populated south and northeast of Ethiopia, many pastoralist families have sedentarized in response to the environmental stress of drought and famine combined with the political violence of livestock raiding and ethnic conflict (Catley and Eyasu, 2010).

According to FAO (2001), whatever the future of pastoralism, its present shape has evolved under pressure from very distinctive twentieth-century influences, making it impossible to return to the golden era. These factors include: modern veterinary medicine, modern weapons enclaving, international pressure for hygiene in slaughtering and dairying, declining prestige of dairy products, world market in livestock products, ideological interference by the State, alternative calls on pastoral labour, modern transportation infrastructure, introduction of high-input, high-output, emergency relief, restocking and rehabilitation programmes, conservation lobby and encroachment on rangeland.

There are studies which found out that sedentarization of pastoralists has negative consequences too. For example, a study by Fratkin et al. (2006) found that while sedentarizing provides access to a wider economic resource base that may mitigate the consequence of food insecurity and offer access to alternative livelihoods, it has not been demonstrated that abandoning the pastoral way of life has been beneficial to the health and well-being of pastoral populations. Their study on the effect of settlement on children’s nutrition, growth, and health revealed large differences in the growth patterns and morbidity of nomadic vs. settlers’ children. In particular, age-specific height and weight measurements for the nomadic pastoral community are significantly higher than same-aged measurements of children from the settled villages. Furthermore, women and especially pregnant women showed higher levels of malnutrition in the settled communities. Both women and children showed higher rates of respiratory and diarrheal morbidity in settled versus nomadic communities, although malaria rates were uniformly higher in nomadic communities than the settled ones.

Moreover, a study by Kejela et al. (2006) found that agro-pastoralists are poorer than the pure pastoral communities may be because farming was adopted to cope with food insecurity caused by declining herd size. In addition, a study by Boku and Gufu (2010) also found little evidence that Borana communities have become self-sufficient in grain production. As to the factors motivating herders to cultivate crops, they showed that it is not only poverty but shortage of labor, lack of sufficient traction animals, and unreliable rainfall are also the driving forces.

Abebech (2011) argues that pastoral livestock-keeping depends on the availability of water and grazing land and protecting the environment constitutes an important component of their indigenous knowledge system and traditional system of governance. She further argues that adopting a policy to 'modernize' and 'develop' pastoral regions had failed by the previous two regimes with mega projects financed by the World Bank to 'develop' and 'modernize' the pastoral regions of Ogaden, the adjacent areas of Afar and Borana. They failed mainly because they were launched to 'develop and modernize' and 'change' the pastoral livelihood system, because these projects were all planned with the exclusion of the subject, the pastoral community.

Moreover, some argue that pastoral development must and should start with little support rendered to pastoralists such as setting up market mechanisms, introduce mobile schools and clinics. An attempt of pushing pastoralists to sedentarize first before providing them any service is a futile exercise.

Abebech (2011) argue that given that Ethiopia stood second in Africa by livestock population, but not known by grain production, why do government force pastoralists to move to the unproductive sector rather than supporting them? Is it not good to start the whole process of capital accumulation with the asset that we have, livestock? A study by the WISP (2007) in five African countries reached the conclusion that pastoral livestock production system can greatly contribute to national economies. One of the most likely ways that pastoral development can contribute to the national economy is that it creates space for other potential industries related to livestock production such as meat-processing plants, packing and processing dairy products, tanneries and even exporting live animals. Both the government and the private sector could bank on these economic activities if pastoral development is given the chance to emerge with the adoption of the right policy.

This has also been reflected on the 7^th international DCG networking seminar held from October 11-16, 2010 in Addis Ababa. There was a strong debate among the participants of this workshop as to whether pastoralism is a viable means given the enhanced desertification due to global climate change and manmade disasters. The debate was as to whether pastoralism is a viable livelihood means or they have to diversify their portfolio to meet the challenges that have been induced due to natural and manmade calamities. The proponents of pastoralism argue that pastoralism is a viable livelihood means if managed appropriately. They further argue that even if the need be, it should be left to the pastoralists themselves. Others argue that given the current scenarios in these areas: erratic rainfall, enhanced desertification, forest and land degradation and limited pastures they emphasize the importance of sedentarization of pastoralists. It was found difficult for the workshop participants to reach a consensus on the issue. The main reason for the disagreement is absence of an empirical study which supports either of the two groups. Hence, both groups agreed on the need for further empirical study on whether sedentarization is the best livelihood strategy for pastoralists or not. This study is initiated to fill in this research gap.

The three RIO Conventions are intrinsically linked, operating in a given ecosystems, and addressing interdependent issues. The Conventions share common concerns and provisions for many environmental and sustainable development issues. Most of the provisions in them are mutually reinforced. Amongst the common shared provisions are formulation of national and regional strategy and action plans; identification, data collection and systematic observation; develop protected areas; legislation and related measures, research, environmental education; training and public awareness; environmental impact assessment; partnership and cooperation between governmental and non-governmental sectors; reporting, joint action program implementation; institutional mechanism; access to resources; precautionary measures; resource allocation and technology transfer.

Rio conventions have similarities in terms of standard obligations required by their Parties. The Conferences of the Parties (COP) to each RIO Convention have underlined through numerous articles and decisions that need for enhanced collaboration among the Conventions in order to enhance Synergy and reduce duplication of activities; in other words resources.

The need for capacity building stands out as an important cross cutting theme among Conventions. Thus, enhancing the awareness of stakeholders in environmental protection and maintaining biodiversity particularly in the dry lands of Ethiopia which covers about 60% of the total land mass on Rio conventions is meant adhering endeavours of ensuring the sustainability of food security.

In Ethiopia, land degradation is the major factor for the spread of desertification and one of the principal causes of the loss of biodiversity. Climate variability can also accelerate the process of desertification; recurrent drought contributes substantially to drylands degradation and desertification. Loss of vegetation cover and soil quality can affect climate change by rising temperatures and reducing moisture levels. These scenarios should be arrested by effective measures to maintain the quality of biodiversity. One of the plausible mechanisms is implementing Rio conventions from the perspective of environmental development issues.

In this regard, the Ethiopian Government has recognized the logical linkages among the Rio conventions for the realization of their respective objectives in synergy. Therefore, attempts have been made to draw together all the fitting edge so that national commitments stated in the three conventions is articulated into one common text on the context of Ethiopia. It was then identified thematic issues for the provisions of the three Conventions, strategies for synergy. Actions are proposed for the implementation of strategies. The proposed actions and strategies consist of the proposals of Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan, National Action Plan to Combat Desertification as well as the guideline for the preparation of National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change.

The thematic areas, proposed strategies and actions for national and local synergy of the RIO Conventions call for partnership and cooperation between governmental and non-governmental actors.

While this being the reality, however, the awareness/understanding level of all relevant stakeholders of the three RIO Conventions is still at stake particularly when seen from Federal level (Policy Makers) to the local level, meaning relatively better at Federal Government level but much less at Regional, Zonal, Woreda/District and Kebele level. This coupled with the recent May/June 2010 government election, officials at all level, due to position reshuffling and other factors desperately require awareness on the three Conventions. It is in this way that one can think of the collective trickledown effect of the conventions on the ground at the end, if meaningful change is expected to be achieved.   

Pastoralism as a way of life and a source of livelihood that has existed for centuries. Research report (UNDP 2003)2 has showed that an estimated 200 million peoples are practicing pastoralism and related livelihoods in the globe. In Ethiopia, pastoralism is a livelihood system and a way of life for more than 10 million citizens, residing in 149 Woredas in five National Regional States and a Dire Dawa City Governments (FDRE HPR-PASC 2009.

Ethiopia covers an estimated total area of 1.1 million km², of which more than half (625,000 km²), belong to pastoral areas. The latter are found in the South-eastern Plateau, the East African Rift, the Western Lowlands and Eastern Lowlands of Ethiopia. The net rangelands – that produce grass and browse for itinerant stockbreeding - cover 545,000 km², equal to 57% of Ethiopia’s land surface, spanning 300 to 1,500 m of altitude. About 20% of the vegetation cover is in good conditions, 30% fair, 40% poor and 10% depleted. Due to the prevailing range use, deterioration trends prevail, especially in the areas enjoying a fair vegetation cover((FDRE HPR-PASC 2009).

In Ethiopia pastoralists occupy 61% of the land mass of the country and accounts for 12-15% of the national population. The Ethiopian pastoralists are mainly located in arid and semi-arid rangelands of the country. These areas are characterized by high temperature, successive poor rains, and increased incidence of droughts, floods and climatic shocks. Furthermore, rangelands households with fewer and less diversified assets are less able to invest in adaptation measures and to meet their basic needs when faced with the adverse consequences of climate change. 

Poverty remains particularly intense in the pastoral areas, both in terms of low income and food consumption, and high vulnerability, in terms of the risk of sudden drops in income. The coverage of social services and infrastructure are among the lowest in the country. Their traditional social, economic and political systems have been eroded.

Raising and herding livestock for a living, pastoralists move with rainy and dry seasons in search of water and pasture. In some instances, pastoralist families become agro-pastoralists by settling in one area, with some family members raising agricultural crops to meet a portion of household food needs while others go with their animals in search of pasture and water. Due to their reliance on natural resources, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists are vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters. Even under normal circumstances, pastoral communities often face extreme challenges in meeting basic needs. 

Drought, as one of the major calamity in the Ethiopian pastoral regions, is still the main cause for the loss of livestock and others resources. As it frequently occurs and threats the livelihood of the pastoralists, it directly contributes to poverty in the areas. The loss of livestock could not be easily recovered in shorter period, and pastoralists are forced to wait for so many years in impoverished conditions of living. In some of the pastoral regions, river overflow and flood has caused significant loss of properties and displacements. Floods that are caused by the Rivers Baro and Akobo affects the pastoralists of Nuer in Gambella region , Awash in Afar and Kereyu, Wabi Shebele in somali, and the Omo river in the south Omo. Such calamities force the pastoralist to food aid and dependency. It is also evident that health and social problems that result due to draught and flood immensely affect the livelihoods of the pastoralist at large.

Although these communities have developed ways to survive isolated emergencies, coping mechanisms are frequently exhausted through consecutive shocks. In recent years, pastoralists in Ethiopia have increasingly come under threat due to the cumulative effects of crises such as drought, food shortages, disease outbreaks, and lack of access to grazing lands due to conflicts. Equally important is the invasion of alien trees an bush encroachments across the vast rangelands. Among these invasive and bushes are Prosopis Juliflora, Parthenium, Congress grass, ect. Some residents have started to produce and store animal feed, helping them to maintain productive animals during the dry seasons which in turn increase their food security and also improve the natural resource and water management systems. 

Human-environment interactions are iterative processes. Many people in the world structure their lives in concert with their environmental contexts. For various reasons associated with climate, people can become vulnerable, that is, they are at a high risk of negative outcomes as a result of climatic events that overwhelm the adaptations they have in place. Vulnerability to environmental changes occurs due to variation in frequency or duration of those changes or because people are constrained economically, socially or politically from responding adequately to those changes. Economic and policy factors, in and of themselves, can also result in increased vulnerability. 

Recognition of local adaptation is seen as an entry point to strengthen the resilience of local pastoralists and agro-pastoralits to climate change. Similarly, the concept of community-based adaptation (CBA) is based on recognition of the competence of grassroots communities to solve their own problems. But the capacity of the people to adapt their livelihood systems to these variations has been weakened.

In this exposure visit to Sahilian pastoralists in Mali and Sudan, DF Partners plan to share experience on the human adaptation and vulnerability to climate change for pastoral community and impacts of the climate change on resource based conflicts.

There is a considerable need and potential for the development of a wide spread, long term intervention that seeks to address the poverty in Sudan’s arid and semi-arid lands. These interventions can be addressed through a general strategy for drought, targeting all the affected states in the Sudan.

This study has come out with some recommendations beside the workshop outcomes, listed as bellow:

• Establishment of an information base and monitoring system for regions prone to desertification and drought, including the economic and social aspects, even at local levels.

• Creation of strong drought policies with a well-defined strategy. These policies should deal with drought as a problem in the first place and the aim should be that its negative impact must be removed. It must depend on an effective and efficient information system. Also it should regard coordination among the concerned entities as a prerequisite for achieving successful planning and implementation as well. Attention must be given to the recurring waves of drought that may end up in desertification.

• Policy should incorporate traditional knowledge as an essential component in the planning process. Policy also should treat rural communities as partners rather than being recipients. The overall goal of policy must be to lessen the impact of drought to the minimum possible level.

• Establishing an early warning system for drought with consideration of the following indicators:
- Delay of rains or poor distribution for longer periods.

- Shrink of rainy season and stop of rains before the normal time.

- Scarcity of water resource.

- Increased normal weather dryness, drop in water levels in rivers and valleys and decline in the rate of feeding surface and underground water.

- Increase in temperature.

- Poor vegetation cover and appearance of transformed drought resistant plants.

- Signs of soil erosion and sand movement.

• Natural resources management through intensified soil conservation, forestation and reforestation activities.

• Developing and strengthening integrated development programs through eradication of poverty and promotion of alternative livelihood systems in areas prone to drought. This should be achieved through community based participation and activities.

• Developing comprehensive drought preparedness and drought relief schemes including self-help, for drought prone areas. Programs should be designed to cope with environmental refugees.

• Encouraging and promoting popular environmental education, focusing on desertification control and management of the effects of drought.

• Develop a comprehensive policy on livestock and range management to include pasture, compatible with forest and crop production practices.

• Strengthen livestock extension efforts to encourage efficient management of rangeland resources by all rangeland users and managers.

• Address the practice of grazing systems which are culturally and environmentally acceptable.

• Raise the awareness of farmers and nomadic communities of the upsides of raising productive animals instead of large unproductive herds.

• Rehabilitation of the Sudan Meteorological Authority (SMA) operating networks; of surface observation network, Upper Air observing network, rainfall stations and satellite receiving equipments.

• Provide an integrated local enterprise policy which encourages small enterprise development within existence food production systems.

• Building of women institutions and strengthen women’s development in rural societies.

• Make use of water harvesting techniques as coping mechanisms to increase food/fodder production rates in Sudan arid lands.

• Adoption of agro-forestry by including acacias in rainfed millet/sorghum producing areas as two course rotation system.

• Establishment of an agro-pastoral system to incorporate livestock in crop rotation system since crop production is defined as raising of both crops and livestock in the same allocated piece of land.

• Make use of indigenous knowledge as far as moister conservation and food preservation are concerned

• Dissemination of different indigenous knowledge among pastoralists provides chances towards suitable pastoral economic transformations and rational use of the natural resources.

• Establishment of a database about pastoral transformation and adaptation strategies helps in pastoral development and rational management of the natural resources in the dry lands.

Baseline livelihood assessments describe how a livelihood functions during a normal year, by providing a base with which we can compare and measure any new threats to the population’s livelihood, as well as to inform recovery and development programming and policy-making.

In November 2009, ADRA conducted its first baseline livelihood assessment of Um Jawasir area: a module for dry area and migration centre located in the northern part of the Sudan semi-desert. The findings of this assessment are presented in this report, which includes a thorough analysis of livelihood systems. The report contains a wealth breakdown of local livelihoods, a description of seasonality and markets, a summary of livelihood assets and various sectors, an analysis of household income and expenditure, an examination of risk and vulnerability factors, and recommendations for future interventions.

The main goal of the assessment is to identify and document Um Jawasir’s population livelihood system as a model for dry area. Livelihood assets and livelihood strategies have been analysed using participatory rural appraisal and Baseline Livelihoods Analysis framework, which embraces both a Sustainable Livelihoods and Vulnerability assessment.

The analysis also explores the linkages of the livelihoods of inhabitants in areas covered by ADRA’s intervention to the surrounding rural livelihoods not included in the project’s activities. It identifies potential risk factors that influence the population’s vulnerability to acute and long-term food insecurities.

In this section we are trying to make a link between impacts of hazards on lives and livelihoods, and peoples vulnerability and capacity, so that we can address vulnerabilities and enhance capacities. Hazards tend to have multiple impacts, and the magnitude of the impact is related to the specific vulnerability of a locality, a household or an individual and their capacity. First we have identified hazards, profiled them and ranked them. The vulnerability, and conversely the capacity, of an individual, a household or a locality are to be found in the broad context of all their assets as identified in the livelihoods framework. This  framework looks at a person’s wellbeing in terms of the totality of their assets – human, physical, social, political.

Dryland population livelihood is very much linked to the climate due to the population’s great reliance on the natural resources to make their living. The amount of annual precipitation and the desert creep represent the main threats affecting the livelihood of the population in the dry lands.

Animals emerged as the main source of income for the poor in the dry areas, which suit the nomadic nature of the population and the low cost of raising animals. Farming represents the main income source for about 70% of the middle wealth group in addition to labour as a second income source besides small trade. Some of the middle group members also get remittances from their relatives working abroad, revealing an apparent advantage over the poor group in terms of diversity of income sources. The delay in securing agricultural inputs is mainly due to lack of finance and complete reliance on the limited outside support availed by the government and farmers' cooperative. The area lacks financial services institutions, except for the farmers cooperative, which is at a stage of establishment and has insufficient finance to meet population demand. General education and access to school is limited.

Regarding the environment, the community value the trees and see their importance for their livelihoods and provision of fuel wood. Thus they tend to protect the trees.

Women have a significant role in securing poor family livelihood through making of wool and straw products. The population presented strong social and cultural solidarity. Different shapes of group cohesion dominate the poor livelihoods, and solidarity is expressed in collective work during harvest, construction and social ceremonies.

Information provided in this assessment will help establish a better system for monitoring food security in the area, and will improve future planning and programming.

In the context of soaring food price, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is  increasing as  an important source of food, nutrition and energy as well as sources of income for wealth creation. It  is an outstanding dryland  legume crop belonging to the family Fabaceae. Some of its traits such as short cropping cycle, and large per area production fills the household food demand and generate income. Groundnuts is  mixed with “fafa”, meal of children and is sold locally or exported. It is  also sold as  source of income for marginalized people such as poor women and children. The leaves and different meals prepared are sources of feed in dry land areas where there is no adequate pastures for grazing.

Increasing in  production  is  needed to satisfy the growing food and  feed demands of the developing world, where most parts of the population is food insecured. However, occurrence of grain spoiling fungi and mycotoxins are serious challenges for economy and health of poor people by contaminating grains before or after harvest.  Particularly, the problem is very severe in drylands where risk aversion mechanisms are low because of lack of resources and the frequency of crop failure is very high. In the marginal areas, farmers are forced to consume contaminated grains particularly in the time of food deficit.

The prolonged exposures to mycotoxins via diet are linked to cancer of kidney, liver, and other immune-system diseases such as HIV. In Ethiopia, this  could be a serious issue, as ”second grade grains” highly infested with fungi and sorted because their proor quality are used for making local drinks such as Tella, Arkie for human consumptions and given directly to livestocks. Mycotoxins in livestock feed reduce productivity in meat and dairy production. In drylands, high temperatures and drought stress increases the incidences of toxigenic fungi and mycotoxin contaminations. 

In Ethiopia, poor storage structures enhance fungal and mycotoxin contaminations. Farmers  which they grade the grain as the  “second grade”  is  highly infested with fungi and mycotoxins. However,, no one knows the damage caused by these toxins in the products. Where as there are ample evidences that mycotoxin contaminations of grains reduce yield and induce multiple damages on human and animal health.

In many countries, aflatoxin- contaminated groundnuts meal causes aflatoxicosis in children and livestock. In Ethiopia, studies are lacking on groundnuts  Due to global warming and climate change drylands are expected to be warmer and more humid making favorable to fungal and their mycotoxins contaminations. This makes difficult for farmers to manage the problems and losses are assumed to be huge.

Thus, occurrence of fungi and their mycotoxins should be identified and monitored. Relations to food safety and health of the rural households need to be documented. Some mitigation mechanisms for marginal areas (drylands) have to be developed and promoted to minimize yield loss and health risks of the rural households. This in turn will contribute to wealth creation, food security and safety.

Read the full article on FAO's website.

See in particular the map of main affected areas.

[Trad.: DCG; Read original article (in Norwegian)]

This year marks 20 years since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. […] The original summit's full name was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and it was there that the three conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification were adopted. The fight for what will be the outcome of this year's conference is well underway.

In Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, state leaders from more than 120 countries, and even more ministers, thousands of representatives of governments, and tens of thousands activists and representatives of organizations from around the world will gather to discuss environmental and development issues. Preparations have been going on for almost two years, but it is still very unclear what will come out of the conference. Will it be a historical turning point, about which future generations will talk as the conference which laid the foundation for a real sustainable development? Or will it be a big flop, with a lot of talks about the necessity of eradicating hunger and poverty, stopping climate change and other serious environmental problems - without resulting in substantial changes? Maybe some important steps in the right direction will be made, or perhaps some in a completely wrong direction. There is still considerable uncertainty about what will be adopted at the summit.

A draft expanding from 19 to 200 pages

The UN General Assembly has decided that the main themes of Rio+20 will be green economy within the framework of sustainable development and eradication of poverty - and the organization of institutions working on sustainable development. In January, the so-called zero draft came from the secretariat of the conference. It was based on nearly 700 proposals from governments, UN agencies, research institutions and NGOs. It was on this 19 pages document that governments started negotiating. The second round of negotiations was conducted in the period 19-27^th March, and the document has grown now to 200 pages!

The text that now forms the basis for further negotiations includes all changes and proposals from all countries and groups of countries that wanted to make suggestions, and there are many. It is good that the G77+China group, which includes 133 countries, mostly presented common proposals! The text also has a myriad of brackets and notes showing which countries have put forward new proposals, proposed deletions, changes in formulations and suggestions to reorganize the text.

Many had hoped that the countries at the March meeting would give mandate to the secretariat or the chairman of the conference in June to create a new text based on all proposals and discussions, or at least to present a text in which suggestions would be grouped and similar proposals merged. But the G77+China didn’t want to give such mandate. Based on extensive experience, they had good reasons to believe that this new text would remove many of their proposals, and that therefore one would have to start negotiating all over again.

Although no new text will be put on the table before the countries meet in late April, much will be done in the next four weeks to prepare the negotiations. The secretariat, individual countries and groups of countries will have close contact with each other to find out what they can agree on and how proposals going in the same direction can be coordinated.

What are the main disagreements?

Although the myriad of proposals makes it very difficult to get an overview of where agreement and disagreement lie, it is still possible to see some main trends. It is necessary to emphasize that the points below are based on the subjective perception of Aksel Nærstad (Development Fund), who was present during the negotiations at the UN in March.

Combating poverty: Most developing countries (G77+China) believe that the main focus of Rio+20 must be poverty eradication in an environmentally sustainable development, while the rich countries do not want to focus specifically on poverty reduction. They insist for the focus on environment to be as strong as on poverty.

The need for change: there are very different perceptions of how serious the situation is for the environment, and thus whether it is necessary to have rapid and drastic measures, or only a slight adjustment.

New measures and new policies or implement what is already decided: the rich countries do not want to focus so much on the lack of implementation of previous resolutions. The G77+China, however stressed that plenty of good measures have already been adopted, and that the main problem is about implementation. A good example of this is that rich countries have pledged to provide at least 0.7% of gross national income in development aid. Although this promise was given in the UN General Assembly as early as in 1970, and has since been repeated in many international agreements, so far only five countries have met this target.

Green Economy: There is no common definition of what "green economy" is. Rio Conference in 1992 made the concept of sustainable development known. After the conference, almost everything was called sustainable. Now many fear that the "green economy" will also be used and abused. Businesses that are far from being sustainable will green wash their activities and hide behind a smokescreen of empty green rethoric. Many developing countries have warned that the "green economy" will work just like that.

Human rights: The vast majority of countries feel it is important to emphasize the fundamental human rights recognized by the UN. This includes the right to food and the right to water. The United States want, however, to delete all references to such human rights.

More or less regulation: USA, Australia and New Zealand emphasize their policy of free trade and deregulation, while many other countries underscores the importance of local and national trade, and the necessity of regulation of financial operations and activities that have a great negative impact on the environment.

Local or global: Many countries stressed the importance of local and national food production and local markets. U.S.A., Australia and New Zealand suggest, however, to delete all references to this in the text, and will only talk about global food production and global markets.

Reproductive health and contraception: Although all countries underline the importance of women, their specific roles and needs, there are deep disagreements on a number of statements about women. Not surprisingly, the Vatican tries to delete all allusions to contraception and birth control.

Common and differentiated responsibility: It is a recognized principle in international negotiations on environment and development that all countries have a shared responsibility, but that responsibility is also very different due to historical conditions and unequal distribution of wealth. Naturally, the developing countries underline that this principle must be emphasized in connection with most of the questions that are on the table for Rio+20, while many of the rich countries would like to tone it down.

Green protectionism: Many rich countries have suggested that there must be stricter environmental requirements and standards for the production of goods, including fisheries. Developing countries fear that such standards will be used as an excuse for a protectionist policy in which national production in rich countries will be supported at the expense of imports from developing countries.

Sustainability goals, roadmap and indicators: There is fairly broad agreement about the need to develop sustainable goals, but what kind of goals should be developed, and how far one should go in Rio, is far from making consensus. Some believe that the Rio+20 goals should replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as their "time frame" goes out in 2015, others believe that they come in addition, and that they should focus on positive goals for sustainability, not to eradicate the negative situations, such as the MDGs are doing. These are very different perceptions and aspirations about how far one should go before and during the Rio Summit. This also leads to disagreements about whether a "roadmap" and indicators for the objectives should be prepared and if so, how specific these should be.

The results of the Ecofarm livestock action research were many: improved productivity in terms of lambing rates, lamb and ewe (sheep) survival, high goat and cow milk yields and enhanced fertility; reduced costs of production in sheep fattening; improved household nutritional status through availing more milk to children; and increased income through selling early weaned fattened lambs. A good indication of the Ecofarm livestock technologies’ impact is their success in uptake and scaling up by other development projects in the country (IFAD Projects in Western Sudan and Butana area, ICARDA Project in Lower Atbara area Northern Sudan).

Read more about the Ecofarm projet’s results in our factsheet, and in our report Agro-Sahel.

In Sudan livestock production faces major constraints. Unavailability of nutritious grazing feed resources on a year-round-basis, water scarcity, deficiency in major mineral elements (P, Ca and I) and diseases are some. As a consequence mortality is high, production is unstable, fertility is low and milk yields are also low.

To improve productivity in order to enhance the food security situation and increase farmers’ income is the main objective of the Ecofarm livestock action research. Specifically, the project aimed to improve sheep productivity in terms of higher conception, higher lambing and twining rates and lamb survival, improving weight gain and added value to weaned lambs to improve farmer income, as well as improving milk yields in lactating animals to improve the household nutritional status.

Three livestock production systems are practiced in the area. Nomads’ livelihood (more than 50% of the gross household revenue) depends on livestock with continuous migration in search of water and forage. Transhumant migrate seasonally along traditional grazing routes with minor plant cropping activities. And sedentary farmers practice both agronomic and livestock dominated activities, through combining cropping activities with raising small ruminants and a few cows.

3 years, 6 villages, 100 farmers for impressive results

The Ecofarm project went on for three years (2007-2010) and covered six villages in North and South Kordofan States (3 villages each) in western Sudan. This dryland area is characterized by unimodal (July-Oct) rains (100-450 mm), subject to a relentless series of droughts (1974/75, 1984/85, 1991, 2003), desert encroachment and moving sand dunes. Dryland farming has triggered a change in the composition of rangelands species with dominance of annual plants and forbs, which eventually has resulted in denuded lands and eroded soils.

99 farmers (57 women and 42 men) participated in project activities with 400 animals (120 ewes, 163 goats, 62 cows and 55 lambs) included in Ecofarm livestock action research demonstration trials. The results of the trials were impressive. Strategic supplementary feeding of ewes had improved reproductive performances (conception rate from 65 to 80.0%), lambing rates (from 55.8 to 75.0%) and twining rate (from 4.5 to 23.3%), reduced abortions (from 22.5 to 5.0%) and lowered mortality (from 2.5 to 15.0%), increased overall lamb weight at birth (from 2.01 to 2.41 kg) and improved ewe fertility through reducing time and number of services (1-2 services) to get conceived. Desert lambs fattening Ecofarm technology resulted in higher final body weight and higher total and daily weight gains, and reduced the cost of production. Saltlick supplementation to lactating animals increased total and daily milk yields (50.0% increase in goats and 17.8% in cows) and improved fertility through shorter time to return to cyclicity (2-4 weeks).

The Ecofarm Project livestock action research activities in the drylands of Kordofan, Sudan, were presented at a side event 20 October 2011 during UNCCD COP 10 in Changwon City, South Korea.  A final report will soon be available on this webpage.

(From the back cover)

Drylands are rich in plant and animal species that are specifically adapted to living in arid and harsh conditions. Drylands also are home to resilient peoples, who make use of the dryland resources and seek to maintain the precarious balance between soils, water, vegetation, animals and people. These people have a long history of living with their environment, not just living from it.

Today with climate change, growing populations and more frequent conflicts over resources, the fragile balance of dryland ecosystems is increasingly in danger. Yet, all over the world, dryland communities are finding ways to maintain or restore this balance, adapting their practices and coming up with innovative and inspiring responses to reverse the constant threats of land degradation, desertification and subsequent loss in the productivity of the land. These examples show us the value of investing in drylands, which contain many valuable resources, provide valuable services and play a key role in meeting global food requirements. Such investment is all the more urgent since two-thirds of people suffering from serious and permanent under-nourishment live in drylands, 70% of which are currently being degraded.

Drynet is a network of committed civil society organisations that work together with dryland communities. This report highlights a few of the many positive developments happening in dryland regions that Drynet’s partners are either involved in or have documented. These examples show us how, with sufficient dedication and inventiveness, drylands can be sustainably managed and livelihoods

strengthened, thereby helping to reduce (or eradicate) poverty and hunger. Drynet will continue to represent the views and experiences of dryland communities and people. Our aim is to build strong civil society platforms that are capable of bridging the gap between local dryland realities and political and development processes. We invite everyone concerned with the well-being of dryland  communities and environments to become involved and join us in these efforts.

***

Case studies:

Building One Million Water Cisterns - Brazil

Using a Flower to Combat Desertification - Turkey

The Largest Reforestation Effort in Africa Goes Unnoticed - Niger

Drynet: a Global Initiative Giving Future to Drylands

A Greener Approach to Cultivating the "Golden Grain" - Bolivia

Villages and the Iranian Government Aligning their Interests - Iran

From Heirloom to Unique Selling Point - India

Working the Fields for Healthy Soils - South Africa

NGO's and Journalists Making Land Degradation Public - Uzbekistan

A Living Example of Traditional Knowledge - Iran

Fishermen Catching Clouds for an Alternative Livelihood - Chile

Adapting to Climate Change: a Mulit-Functional Response - Pakistan

Fine-Tuning Farming Techniques through Farmer Schools - Senegal

Reviving the Green Lungs of the City - Mauritania

Fighting the Tiokatimo Winds: Farmers Experiments - Madagascar

Indigenous Communities Responding to Monoculture Tree Plantations - Chile

One Million Signatures for Soil Conservation - Turkey

Cooking Up Fuel Solutions - Mauritania

(SUMMARY)

The recent rise in the number of food insecure people in the world, coupled with incidences of crop failure due to adverse weather, have made world leaders increasingly aware that future climate change may severely limit our ability to feed the growing population towards 2050. So far, in addition to industrial emission control, Norwegian efforts to restrict climate change have focused on mitigation through forest protection (REDD+) and clean energy (Energy+). A third area of attention is climate-smart agriculture. Producing food in a more ‘climate smart’ way is seen as having three advantages: 1) Providing food for an increasing population, 2) maintaining food production under a changing climate, and 3) reducing greenhouse gas emission from agriculture while absorbing carbon in vegetation and soil. This report explores how Norway can support Africa’s efforts to make agriculture more climate-smart through support to African universities.

Among the three benefits of climate-smart agriculture, African farmers will be most inclined to focus on the two first, the production increase and the adaptation. Mitigation may require external support. African leaders are in the forefront of developing policies and institutional arrangements for climate-smart agriculture. Among other initiatives, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme under the African Union is in the process of preparing member states for substantial investments in agriculture. Capacity building and the generation of new knowledge are essential for the achievement of climate-smart agriculture. Given the long history of Norwegian support to agricultural research and higher agricultural education in several African countries, Norway can, without doubt, make significant contributions to African food security – now and in the future.

Norwegian support to climate-smart agriculture can be based on its experience with REDD+ and Energy+ initiatives. The possible roles include: 1) Human and institutional capacity building; 2) monitoring and evaluation; and 3) establishing and maintaining partnerships between public, private and civil society actors. Drawing on studies from e.g., conservation agriculture, biofuel production and integrated land management in the Sahel, Norwegian support can contribute to the implementation of a productive and climate robust agriculture while also obtaining the goals of REDD+ and Energy+.

Interventions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, including REDD+ and Energy+ initiatives for commercial forestry plantations and renewable biomass fuels (biofuels), may restrict both men and women’s access to land, forest and other productive resources. Studies so far have indicated that climate efforts may exacerbate an already precarious situation for women in many African countries due to their insecure access to land and their voiceless situation. In light of the different roles men and women play in food production and energy generation, their different needs should be attended to in the climate change agenda.

Considering the important role of the private sector in securing long-term sustainability of donor and government funded programmes in climate-smart agriculture, REDD+ and Energy+, and for the purposes of scaling up any pilot projects with limited donor or government funding, one case from Mozambique (the Beira Agricultural Growth Corridor - BAGC) and one from Tanzania (the Southern Growth Corridor of Tanzania - SAGCOT) are presented in the report. The cases may illustrate potential institutional arrangements for collaboration with private sector and farming communities in developing commercial agriculture. However, due to low returns and high risk, most African countries may not attract sufficient private investments required for the transition to mechanized food and energy production. Thus, government and donor funding may still be required to provide incentives for the private sector engagement in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. 

Norway, together with FAO and the World Bank (WB) has, for some time, been in dialogue with the African Union/NEPAD regarding cooperation on the strengthening of the climate dimension in the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program, CAADP. Support to climate-related research and education can be arranged through the Climate Programme of CGIAR, the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

UMB/Campus Ås has a wide network of partner universities in Africa, upon which further collaboration can be built. This report finds future arrangements under the new NORHED programme to be particularly promising for combining research and education towards climate-smart agriculture in Africa. Past and ongoing support programmes have already strengthened some of our partners to a level where they can serve as Centres of Excellence and function as hubs for regional research and education programmes. Weak universities in collaborating countries in the region may benefit through staff development and student funding mechanisms. UMB will seek to promote the experiences from the seminar series Sustainability, Education and the Management of Change in the Tropics, aimed at spreading the pedagogic approach of EARTH University in Africa and Asia.

Food security in Africa needs international attention, particularly with the current prospects of climate change. Fortunately, there are promising opportunities.

The Sahel countries face a range of problems from low food insecurity to environmental problems like climate change and soil degradation. The Ecofarm project was undertaken in Mali, Sudan and Ethiopia to address these problems through testing and developing integrated farming methods based on technologies that could simultaneously increase crop yields, increase livestock production, improve human nutrition and preserve the environment. The technologies tested were a mix of technologies developed by national and international research institutes and farmers own best practices. The technologies were tested in farmers own fields and with farmers as active participants. The project was running for 3-4 years in each country and was implemented as a collaborative effort between farmers, NGOs and research institutes. The involvement of NGOs was important to facilitate the contact with farmers and for up-scaling of the results from the project. The Ecofarm project has contributed to increasing farmers’ income, diversifying their sources of income and making farmers less vulnerable to climate change. The up-scaling of the results is continuously ongoing and the full effect of the Ecofarm project is likely to be seen in the years to come.

Agro-Sahel is prepared in order to inspire all actors working in the agricultural development sector in the Sahel. The technologies presented in Agro-Sahel are scientifically documented and are already being adopted by farmers.

It is important to underscore that the choice of technologies and interventions to be used varies depending on rainfall, soil quality, input availability, cost of inputs, integration into the market, access to credit and farmers' ability to adopt new farming techniques and approaches. Agro-Sahel also aims to present the broader picture of what is needed for improving agriculture in the Sahelian countries, looking at what is needed for farmers to “climb the ladder of intensification” and reduce risks.

The best practices presented in Agro-Sahel are mainly developed for areas where rainfall ranges between 400 and 800 mm. This corresponds to the Sudano-Sahelian zone (400-600 mm) and the Sahelo-Sudanian area (600 - 800 mm) (Hiernaux and Houerou 2006) where rainfed farming is practiced. The techniques presented can be useful in adaption to climate change as they represent low–cost methods for increasing productivity under marginal conditions.   

There are many opportunities to improve agriculture in the Sahel. The choice of different technologies and approaches depends on socio-economic conditions and household conditions. There is no technology that fits everywhere. Farmers, who do not have the necessary financial means, cannot take big risks and are not in a position to make heavy investments. The role of development agencies is to facilitate farmers' work, and to identify and remove bottlenecks associated with access to innovations, inputs, infrastructures, institutions or incentives. There is a great potential for agricultural development in the Sahel. It is important to identify and seize the opportunities when they arise