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Gradually, pasturelands are being converted into other land uses or enclosed for exclusive uses under various national laws or policies. Resilience of pastoralist communities to the changing environments – ecological, economic and political – has great potential to protecting and conserving the pastureland landscapes or waterscapes. Such resilience is more talked in context of climate change and its impact on the herder communities surviving in marginal environments. In the view of widespread regional and national policy failures and modernity-catalyzed societal rejection of transhumance and nomadic pastoralism, International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 declared by the United Nations General Assembly is a grand opportunity for all to revitalize the least-external-input driven systems of livestock raising and mobility across the continents. This international blind peer-review journal, ‘Pastures & Pastoralism’, will contribute to the science, policy and practice across the world by providing a novel platform to seasoned, budding and young scientists, experts and practitioners, including the pastoral community members.
Livelihood Transformation among the Borana Pastoralists of Dhas District, Southern Ethiopia
Dejene Alemayehu*1, Yetebarek Hizekeal2, Tesfatsion Petros3, Hasrat Arjjumend4
1Institute of Indigenous Studies, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia.
Email: dejenea987@gmail.com | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6392-5022
2Institute of Indigenous Studies, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia.
Email: yetebarek-h.zekareas@connect.polyu.hk | ORCID: 0000-0003-3480-7235
3Institute of Indigenous Studies, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia.
Email: petrostesfatsion@gmail.com | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5798-3886
4The Grassroots Institute, 548 Jean Talon Ouest, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Email: ceo@grassrootsinstitute.ca | ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4419-2791
*Corresponding author
Pastures & Pastoralism, 01, 15-29. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0102
Received: 09 December 2022
Reviewed: 09 January 2023
Revised: 31 January 2023
Accepted: 08 February 2023
Published: 07 April 2023
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This study intends to examine the triggers of livelihoods transformation among the Borana pastoralists of Dhas district in Borana zone, southern Ethiopia. The Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools, such as key informant interviews and focused group discussions, were used to explore the perceptions of local communities on the causes of livelihood transformation and its impact on the well-being of pastoralists and their overall survival. Purposive sampling was used to administer key informant interviews and FGDs. The findings of this study indicate that the foremost causes of livelihoods transformation in Dhas district include frequent drought and environmental degradation, pastoralists’ sedentarisation policies and conflict over boundary and grazing lands. Previously, pastoralism livelihood system was the most viable strategy in the study area providing sustainable livestock products, while, at the same time, protecting water and rangeland resources and safeguarding environment warrant the Borana pastoralist’s well-being. However, with the changing livelihood dynamics, the Borana’s pastoral system underwent major upheavals, enfeebling the pragmatism of these practices. Therefore, this study concludes that a comprehensive development strategy for supporting pastoral livelihood becomes the need of the hour to guide the efforts of all relevant stakeholders operating in pastoral areas.
Livelihood; Diversification; Drought; Borana pastoralists
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Alemayehu, D., Hizekeal, Y., Petros, T., & Arjjumend, H. (2023). Livelihood Transformation among the Borana Pastoralists of Dhas District, Southern Ethiopia. Pastures & Pastoralism, 01, 15-29. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0102
Alemayehu, D., Hizekeal, Y., Petros, T. and Arjjumend, H. (2023). Livelihood Transformation among the Borana Pastoralists of Dhas District, Southern Ethiopia. Pastures & Pastoralism, 01: 15-29. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0102
Alemayehu D., Hizekeal Y., Petros T., Arjjumend H. Livelihood Transformation among the Borana Pastoralists of Dhas District, Southern Ethiopia. Pastures & Pastoralism, 2023, 01, 15-29. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0102
Alemayehu, Dejene, Hizekeal, Yetebarek, Petros, Tesfatsion, Arjjumend, Hasrat. 2023. “Livelihood Transformation among the Borana Pastoralists of Dhas District, Southern Ethiopia”. Pastures & Pastoralism, 01: 15-29. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0102
Alemayehu, Dejene, Yetebarek Hizekeal, Tesfatsion Petros and Hasrat Arjjumend. 2023. “Livelihood Transformation among the Borana Pastoralists of Dhas District, Southern Ethiopia”. Pastures & Pastoralism, 01: 15-29. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0102
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