In the 2000s, Ethiopia’s formal livestock exports rose from just US$8 million in 2004 to just over US$200 million in 2010.22 Te vast majority of Ethiopia’s livestock exports—90 to 95 percent— are sourced from pastoralist areas.23 Tese posi- tive trends come on the back of strong overseas demand and higher prices.
Improving market access and
integration would allow pastoralists to buy and sell livestock before a
drought rather than lose their herds to drought-induced mortality.
But how can the livestock sector be further
developed in a manner that is pro-poor? Efforts to develop pastoralism have focused on commercial- ization—that is, promoting greater engagement with markets—and improved drought manage- ment, but there is litle evidence that commercial- ization interventions in the Horn have benefited the poor (partly because the evidence base is weak).24 Moreover, there are signs that inequality in pastoralist areas may be increasing. Large herd- ers have increasingly engaged in overseas mar- kets and coped relatively well with drought, while poor herders have oſten failed to sell their livestock before drought and subsequently lost most of their herds. Tese ex-pastoralists are therefore forced to work as hired herders or in agro-pastoralism or other low-return activities. Improving market access and integration would
allow pastoralists to buy and sell livestock before a drought rather than lose their herds to drought- induced mortality. To achieve this, road infra- structure is obviously a high priority, bearing in mind the need to keep such investments strategic and cost-effective in low-population-density areas. Information systems could be beter developed to provide weather forecasts and early warnings, livestock prices, and other pertinent information for both traders and pastoralists (such as advance
36 DÉJÀ VU IN THE HORN OF AFRICA
notice of livestock auctions). Cellular phones have been used to disseminate early warnings and price data, but more could be done to make mar- kets more competitive. In smaller livestock mar- kets, traders oſten appear to have more bargaining power than pastoralists, who can ill afford to trek unsold animals back to their grazing lands. One solution could be to establish specific market days and shiſt to an auction-based system.25 In the- ory, these relatively simple institutional changes should increase the prices received by pastoralists and even promote broader commercialization of the sector. Changes related to trade and animal health are
also needed to render the pastoralist sector more viable. Most livestock exports in the region remain informal, partly because of onerous regulations and poor customs infrastructure.26 In Ethiopia, emergency animal health interventions typically have low returns since the main constraints during drought are food and water.27 However, improving animal health in normal times remains extremely important both for protecting and building up this key household asset, and for preventing the spread of diseases and subsequent bans on livestock exports, which can impose a huge economic cost on the region. Beter management and regulation of land and
water resources will also be critical. In addition to suffering from the effects of conflict over land and water, herders have felt the negative impacts of irrigation schemes, “land grabs,” and the gener- ally poor protection of community property rights. Tese land policies are not only unjust, but also inefficient because they inhibit the performance of the livestock sector and interfere with the prin- cipal mechanism pastoralists use to cope with drought. Tis record reflects the pervasive margin- alization of pastoralist communities by national governments. In recent years, though, a number of interventions and institutions have been devel- oped to redress this marginalization,28 and signifi- cant advances have been made in resolving local conflicts, including regulation of grazing and water resources.29 Finally, the need for evidence-based strategies is an issue that pervades every aspect of development
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