Hunger in the Horn of Africa is linked to the end of the nomadic way of raising livestock in the region. Photography: Ed Harris/ReutersThe images of Africans affected by drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya to paint a gloomy picture-thousands of people are again in desperate need and are being provided with food aid to survive.
But what the photographs cannot show is the reason why so many people came to this state of misery.
Below is the hunger for high visibility is a secular and sustainable way of life that has been disturbed by a modern world, and whose ability to adapt to the cycle of drought has damaged beenseverely.
About 20 million people live in dryland areas of the Horn of Africa; nomads, or pastors, who own animals and food for themselves, their communities and the regional economy with milk, meat and other products of animal origin. Shepherds lived in harsh dryland environments and erratic the Horn for centuries, surviving its regular cycle and repeated droughts through his unique production strategy that depends on mobility.
While a farmer waits for the rain comes, a pastoralist moves to where the rain already has been-by feeding their camels, cows, sheep or goats grazing opportunities and access to water sources. Complex social systems that cross national borders and the reservation of key areas of land for periods of drought, have traditionally provided that Pastors have adapted to the extreme climate variability that face.
But were taken by agriculture and large-scale commercial farms – often in riparian areas previously reserved for strategic periods of drought over vast areas of land of pastoralists in the Horn of Africa in recent decades. This has compromised the whole system and reduced the production of milk and meat.
When animals are forced to stay in the same place, they also become more susceptible to disease. With the loss of much of their areas of pastureland that many pastors now prefer herd camels, which can survive in the remaining degraded habitats, need watering less frequent and can also feed at night when it's cold. The conflict and insecurity in the region still restricts the mobility of livestock and affects the long-distance trade of animals, particularly from Somalia.
In dry periods, when milk yields are low, pastors will sell their cattle to grains, but as far as possible will always maintain a breeding stock to build up their herds, when the situation improves. When prices rocket and livestock prices food plummet at the same time, many will lose all of its assets. Without any social support that they are forced to drop completely out of pastoralism and become a drain on the State rather than a contribution to it.
Food aid provides a temporary solution when drought hits, saving the lives of shepherds, but often fails to save their livelihoods. Fortunately there are a number of initiatives that aim to protect the herds before they are decimated by drought-animal vaccination, providing food and water for the animals, or sell animals for slaughter before their condition deteriorates. Development agencies are also making significant progress in understanding and managing the cycle of drought-recognizing that the shepherds of the Horn of Africa are always waiting, surviving or recovering from a drought.
When this is dry on the pastors who have not fallen out of the system will need support of national Governments and the international community to rebuild their herds and ensure the future of production system in which so many depend. So while food aid is crucial to a crisis, more creative solutions are needed to break the cycle to repeat itself. Helen de jode
Helen de Jode is the editor of modern art and Mobile: the future of livestock production in the drylands of Africa published by IIED and SOS Sahel
