Pastoralist crisis will not be solved with food aid - UN officials

Drought in the Horn of Africa has exacerbated an ongoing crisis for pastoral communities in arid and semi-arid areas in the region - a crisis that will not be solved with just food assistance, United Nations officials said at the launch of an appeal for humanitarian aid. "It’s no good saving people today just to see them killed tomorrow," said Jan Egeland, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, at the appeal for US $99 million in assistance to the Horn of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday. "They need help to escape the vicious cycle they find themselves in." Approximately 15 million people raise and herd livestock in the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to a document issued along with the appeal, but recurring drought has decimated their herds. In the current drought, well over 70 percent of cattle have already died in many areas, said an Oxfam statement issued on Friday. The pastoralists are now desperately trying to sell off their dying livestock, causing market prices to collapse. As their resource diminish, people die, Egeland said, "not with a big scream but silently, mostly from preventable diseases." The problem is a "complex livelihood crisis" said Valerie Julliand, the regional head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "And it is a crisis that is also affecting the non-pastoralists in the region who depend on pastoralism for meat and milk." The UN is appealing for funds to assist 8 million people who are currently in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. "The trend has been to say that pastoralism is not sustainable," Julliand said. Many aid organisations have programmes in the region to teach pastoralists techniques in farming crops, but the programmes have met resistance. "Pastoralism is not an experiment," said Mohamed Abdi Elmi, a board member of the District Pastoralist Association in northern Kenya’s drought-ravaged Wajir district, in March. "It has been here for centuries, and we believe it is here to stay, no matter what the development planners say." Julliand agrees. "We think it is important to save pastoralism," she said. "Only pastoralists know how to survive in these harsh environments." According to the appeal document, "Pastoralists have developed sophisticated systems to optimise the use of the land and to deal with the effects of cyclical droughts by moving animals, sharing and exchanging them, and selling them into extensive market networks." Those systems are eroding, with pastoralists blocked from accessing markets by armed conflicts and tightened border controls, said Daoud Tari, a representative of the Pastoralist Communication Initiative who attended the appeal launch. "There needs to be a massive investment in roads and infrastructure, and governments have to get involved," he said. The appeal document presents various projects aimed at tackling "structural vulnerabilities and build resilience to future shocks. [...] Improved livestock health care could save many animals stressed by drought. Working together, pastoralists could manage their herds to avoid over-grazing," the appeal said. The projects included building roads and providing pastoralists safe drinking water, irrigation, shelter, healthcare, nutrition and basic education. The appeal is on behalf of 22 organisations, half of which are UN agencies and the other half NGOs. Governments must also play a role. "Past agricultural policies have not been good," Egeland said. "Governments understand they must be providing long-term solutions." ALSO SEE: Agencies appeal for US $425.7 million in drought relief Regional response to crisis will ensure fairness