PhD thesis Title Page Final _Richard Juma - Victoria University ...

1.2 The drought problem – a concern for African pastoralist.
We do not have one definition of drought. Drought is a relative term that
can mean different things to people from different backgrounds and with
different view points. What is drought in one place may not be drought in
another place. Even in the same region, what one farmer considers as
drought, the other farmer may view as normal. UNDP (2000) defines
drought as a sustained period of deficient precipitation with a low
frequency of occurrence. In the context of pastoral settings, drought
implies two or more consecutive years when rainfall is less than 75 per
cent of the long-term average (Coppock 1994). However, following Nikola
(2006), drought is defined in this study as lack of rainy season that is
repeated consecutively for three seasons in a row leading to loss of
pastures and death of livestock. It is important to stress here that it is a
loss of dry season pastures, because according to my respondents, it is
only in such conditions that their animals begin to starve and die.
Drought is not a new phenomenon in Sub-Saharan African pastoral lands.
Climatologist Glantz (1987: 38) states: “drought is a part of (Africa’s)
climate and not apart from it”. Historically, pastoral areas have suffered
numerous such disasters. It has been documented that in Sub-Saharan
Africa, eight major droughts have occurred in the last four decades:
1965/66, 1972/74, 1981/84, 1986/87, 1991/92, 1994/95, 1999/2001
and 2005/06 (Nikola 2006). These conditions reduce forage production
and water supplies, thus placing serious pressure on the livestock
industry (UNDP 2000; UNSO 1999). Although these drought problems are
increasingly apparent, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lack clearly
defined long-term plans especially for pastoral areas where generally
speaking, development has not been a national priority (Hogg 1987). For
instance, during 1968-1973, drought increased dramatically in the
Sahelian countries (Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan).
This pointed to the vulnerability of pastoral production systems to
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