care international in ethiopia – pastoral drop out study - ELMT Home

Cattle number
100
90
80
70 Figure 1: Cattle herd dynamics
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1980/81 1982/83 1984/85 1986/87 1988/89 1990/91 1992/93 1994/95 1996/97
Year
Herd size
Mortality
Net sales
Cattle population dynamics for 17 years (1980-97) exhibited a downward trend in cattle
holdings per household as well as a “boom-and-bust” cycle (Fig. 1). On average, households
reportedly lost 67 head of cattle to drought-related mortality over 17 years, largely due to
starvation (Desta, 1999). Death losses were 10 to 15 times greater than net sales, indicating
that natural factors—not marketing—regulated the population size. Borana are becoming
poorer and poorer over time as cattle holding per capita dwindle. Increasing number of
Borana are having smaller number of cattle herd as more and more Borana fall on the
downside of the household herd size distribution (Fig 2). Larger proportions of he
households were on the upside of the distribution in 1980-84 than in 1986-90, which was
better compared to 1992-97.
Without adequate social safety nets or informal means of insurance, people whose animals
die and who lose their sources of livelihood are forced to drop out of the pastoral system.
This often has detrimental consequences for those who drop out since they are usually ill
equipped to succeed in more urban settings. In addition, there can be detrimental effects to
smaller towns and villages in pastoral areas. They cannot absorb an influx of unskilled labor,
and their immediate environment can suffer as pastoral drop-outs bring their few animals
and concentrate around towns, leading to localized range degradation. Addressing poverty in
pastoral areas fundamentally revolves around two key elements. First, pastoral production
should be improved and supported, not replaced, for the majority of pastoralists with the
skills and interests to continue traditional livelihoods. It has proven to be effective and there
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