Synthesis of Existing Knowledge and Experience on the Provision of ...

Section 2. Overview <strong>of</strong> pastoralism <strong>and</strong> development in pastoralregions up to 19912.1 The mobile pastoral production system <strong>and</strong> customary natural resourcemanagementTable 1: Pastoralist <strong>and</strong> agro-pastoralist populations in selected regionsSources: FDRE, 2007; PCDP II, 2008; Oromia Water Works Design <strong>and</strong> Supervision Enterprise,2009.Region Population Pastoral Agro-pastoralAfar 1.4 million 1.26 million 0.14 millionSomali 4.4 million 3.74 million 0.66 million (includesother livelihood groups)Oromia 27 million 4.32 millionPastoral production remains the dominant l<strong>and</strong> use in Ethiopia’s lowl<strong>and</strong>s, which occur below 1500melevation <strong>and</strong> constitute between 54% <strong>and</strong> 61% <strong>of</strong> the country’s surface area (Coppock, 1994;Oromia Water Works Design <strong>and</strong> Supervision Enterprise, 2009). Of the estimated 1.4 millionpeople in Afar region, 90% are pastoralists 10 <strong>and</strong> 10% agro-pastoralists 11 while <strong>of</strong> Somali region’s 4.4million people, 85% are pastoralists, <strong>and</strong> the remainder a combination <strong>of</strong> agro-pastoralists, farmers<strong>and</strong> urban dwellers (FDRE, 2007; PCDP II, 2008). Pastoralists also represent a significant proportion<strong>of</strong> the population in Oromia <strong>and</strong> SNNPR’s arid lowl<strong>and</strong>s (PCDP II, 2008). To date, agriculturalproduction is limited in many <strong>of</strong> the country’s pastoral regions. In Afar, only about 0.3% <strong>of</strong> the totall<strong>and</strong> area is used for crop farming <strong>and</strong> in Somali, 5.5% <strong>of</strong> the total l<strong>and</strong> area is used for mostly rainfed agriculture, <strong>and</strong> 0.2% for irrigation (Ibid). However, crop production is becoming morewidespread in some parts. About 40% <strong>of</strong> Oromia region is considered pastoral, where most <strong>of</strong> thel<strong>and</strong> cover constitutes rangel<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> about 5% is under cultivation (Oromia Water Works Design<strong>and</strong> Supervision Enterprise, 2009). In parts <strong>of</strong> this region, however, where changing l<strong>and</strong> use ispredominant, a study has shown that in the late 1990s 16.3% <strong>of</strong> the total l<strong>and</strong> area <strong>of</strong> the study sitewas set aside for crop production, up from only 1.4% in 1986 (McCarthy et al, 2001). The extent <strong>of</strong>l<strong>and</strong> enclosed for grazing has also grown alongside, with an additional 3.67% enclosed <strong>and</strong> privatized,indicating recent changes in property rights dynamics in some areas (ibid). Furthermore, whereas 30years ago only 10% <strong>of</strong> the study sample contained households who practiced cultivation, by the late1990s about 80% <strong>of</strong> the sample included households engaged in crop production (ibid).10 Consistently defined in various literature as people who obtain more than 50% <strong>of</strong> their income fromlivestock <strong>and</strong> livestock products. Pastoralists also characteristically practice mobility to avoid risk, respond tovariable climatic conditions <strong>and</strong> ensure healthy livestock <strong>and</strong> rangel<strong>and</strong>s.11 Consistently defined as people who obtain less than 50% <strong>of</strong> their income from livestock <strong>and</strong> livestockproducts, <strong>and</strong> most <strong>of</strong> the remaining income from cultivation. Mobility is practiced but to a more limitedextent as compared to pastoralists.23