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40 41Coordination, CapacityBuilding and AdvocacyNewsThe ASF has four roles:Networking and coordination: sharing informationand learning between members to improve the qualityof ASAL development policy and practice; to strengthencoordination of stakeholder activities in the interests ofefficiency, effectiveness and impact; and to encourage jointaction.Joint action: maximising the collective voiceand influence of ASAL stakeholders by planning,implementing and evaluating joint activities.Advocacy and resource mobilisation: advocating theinterests of the ASALs to those with power, influenceand resources—including governments, media,investors, and development partners.Accountability: building consensus about effectiveapproaches to ASAL development based on a.greedstandards and best practice, and thus mutuallyensuring compliance.The inaugural meeting of the ASF was held in July 2012. Itis made up of a national forum and county forums, eachwith a steering committee. 30 A National Coordinator, workingclosely with the ASAL Secretariat, will support the ASF.The ASF is now seeking partners willing to finance thisposition.6. What can you do to support the work of the ASALSecretariat?The ASAL Secretariat would like to see that all stakeholdersreflect on their work in light of the five key messagescontained in the ASAL Policy:• Think differently about the ASALs, accepting themfor what they are instead of seeking to turn them intosomething else. Look at the ASALs as an opportunityrather than just as a problem.• Act differently in the ASALs in recognition of theunique realities that underpin them, in terms of theirecology, economy, population distribution and socialsystem, and the important role of mobility.• Build the foundations for development in theASALs by investing in the structures and systemsneeded to spur innovation and productivity: namelysecurity, infrastructure, human capital, and disasterrisk management.• Rethink the way planning is done for ASALdevelopment by improving participation andaccountability, mainstreaming climate adaptation, anddeveloping common plans; planning beyond smalladministrative or project boundaries is vital for longtermsustainability of rangelands; and• Rethink institutional and financing mechanisms inorder to improve the coordination of inputs, reorientthese towards risk reduction and resilience, establish30County forums will be established after the elections in March 2013and the advent of the county governments.new institutions where necessary to address theunique needs and opportunities of the ASALs, andsupport regional and transboundary approaches.7. Challenges and needsThe ASAL Secretariat and the broader ASAL institutionalframework offer new hope for the region. However, theframework is as yet unproven, and many challenges lieahead. It will be important to guard against complacency.i. New institutions need the right skills and resourcesto function effectively. Various donors, includingDFID and Danida, are offering technical assistanceand other finance. This support must be usedstrategically in ways that strengthen the capacityof the framework and deliver its goals.ii.iii.iv.The core costs of the Secretariat, and other partsof the institutional framework, need to be met bygovernment. While the ASAL Policy charts a newpath it will only result in change if the necessaryfinance is secured.There is still significant misunderstanding aboutASAL development (and particularly aboutpastoralism) – for example, an assumption that itconcerns only the productive sectors. All sectorsare important, and all have a contribution to make.The ASAL Secretariat in particular should belocated in a place in the next government whereit can work effectively with all sectors and accessthe resources and authority necessary to ensurestrong coordination. Given this, the MDNKOALproposes that its optimum location will be theOffice of the President or Deputy President, whereresponsibility for the coordination of governmentbusiness will lie.v. Kenya is going through a process of transition, withmajor institutional reforms taking place at both thenational and the county levels. The various parts ofthe ASAL institutional framework, particularly theSecretariat and the Stakeholder Forum, will needto navigate this period and ensure that the focuson the ASALs is not lost in the transition to the nextgovernment.The ASAL Secretariat can be contacted at: asalsecretariat@northernkenya.go.keWhat has happened to the African Union’s Policy Framework forPastoralism?Odokorach Shanty Francis, Oxfam Uganda and Achiba Gargule, REGLAPThe AU Policy Framework for Pastoralism 31 lays out a vision for the development of Africa’s drylands in which extensive livestockproduction plays a key role. The policy framework resulted from over three years of consultation and studies of the evidenceby experts and drylands dwellers, and provides a strong basis for country and regional implementation strategies. This articleoutlines recent attempts to promote its roll out, and highlights the urgent need for more resources and efforts to promote theframework as part of the resilience agenda for the HoA.Cary FarleyExtensive livestock production plays a key role in the framework’svision for the development of Africa’s drylands.Since the approval of the AU Policy Framework forPastoralism in Africa by African Heads of State in January2011 very little evidence of impact has been seen at countrylevel in the region. It has been mentioned in several IGADdeclarations relating to the ending drought emergencyinitiative, 31 and in the associated Kenya Country ProgrammePlan the East African Community has expressed its support.Various NGOs and CSOs have also carried out targetedawareness raising including, in Uganda, in relation to theproposed Rangelands and Pastoral Policy for Uganda.However there is not yet a coordinated strategy for rollingout the framework, or its monitoring, either nationally orfor the continent as a whole. In an attempt to address theissue the African Union Commission’s Department of RuralEconomy and Agriculture (AUC-DREA) hosted a stakeholdersmeeting in Addis Ababa in August 2012, to present aproposed implementation strategy for the framework andto articulate a mechanism for stakeholder participation. Themeeting also validated the draft institutional and resourceMobilization Strategy Frameworks.The meeting resolved that:1. Focal points for the AU Policy Framework for Pastoralismshould be established at the continent wide level (AUC-DREA, Regional Economic Committees), and at thenational level, in order to support the coordination ofimplementation activities.2. A Pan-African Pastoralism Forum should be formed topromote the implementation of the framework and31 See article below on IGAD31 See http://128.121.86.38/~au/en/dp/rea/sites/default/files/Policy%20Framework%20for%20Pastoralism.pdf and http://www.disasterriskreduction.net/fileadmin/user_upload/drought/docs/FINAL%20AU%20FLYER.pdfbe linked to existing regional and national pastoralcommittees and programmes.3. Priority issues for supporting the AU Policy Frameworkfor Pastoralism at continental, regional and nationallevels should be mapped and documented.4. A Pan-African Pastoralism Funding Facility shouldbe established under the framework of the Pan-Africa Pastoralism Development Fund to support theimplementation of the policy framework.5. The resource mobilization process should link directlywith other existing programmes and initiatives at thecontinental, regional and national level (includingthe Comprehensive Africa Agriculture DevelopmentProgramme – CAADP process, Regional EconomicCommunities’ initiatives, and national governmentsand non-state actor’s processes).6. The AUC-DREA should coordinate and facilitatethe development of a communication strategy tosupport and ensure the implementation of the PolicyFramework for Pastoralism, and also knowledge sharingof pastoralism development best practices.These recommendations help define a strategy for roll outof the framework, although resources and structure forimplementation are still required. It is clear, however, thatthe AUC alone is not in a position to ensure implementationat country level, and this requires much more action bygovernment agencies, RECs, donors, and civil society.The Policy Framework for Pastoralism outlines a holistic,multi-sectoral and multi-partner view of developmentin the drylands, and therefore responds to many of theelements in the newly emerging resilience agenda. TheIDDRSI process and support from the Global Allianceprovide opportunities for encouraging the domesticationof the framework, although much capacity building andadvocacy to government line ministries, and developmentpartners, will be required to help translate the frameworkinto locally appropriate actions.For further information, please contact Odokorach ShantyFrancis (Uganda): fodokorach@oxfam.org.uk or AchibaGargule (Regional): agargule@oxfam.org.uk