From 2 to 13 December, Saudi Arabia hosted the UNCCD 16th session of the Conference of the Parties. Topping the agenda, countries came together to accelerate efforts to sustainably manage and restore land, to scale up and speed up land restoration, and tackle worsening droughts.
Under the theme ‘pathways to pastoralist prosperity, resilience and food security’, we contributed evidence and experience on issues around drought resilience in East Africa.
Background
Africa’s drylands cover two-thirds of Africa landmass and are home to half a billion people. Together with rangelands, they sustain the livelihoods and food security of tens of millions of pastoralists as well as the people in cities and towns that depend on their products. In the recent past, communities in these areas faced pressing climate challenges as their environments are warming at up to twice the global average.
Facing droughts and other uncertainties, pastoral communities in East Africa and elsewhere use robust land, livestock and water management strategies to prepare and protect against shocks while building resistance to future risks. Often in the disaster front lines, their resilience has been tested over many years, revealing strengths and weaknesses. For healthier, more resilient dry- and rangelands, we need to accelerate awareness, uptake and investment in these proven strategies.
Drawing from research and the insights of communities in East Africa’s drylands, our sessions outlined actions and investments that lead to healthier lands and more prosperous livelihoods in the region.
Our involvement
On 11 December, we convened a side event on ‘accelerating actions for healthy land in East Africa’. It focused on strategies for healthy land management and governance in drylands – in the face of droughts and other shocks. Guyo Malicha Roba (Jameel Observatory/ILRI) gave an opening presentation, after which we heard perspectives on thematic issues: Water access (by Giriraj Amarnath of IWMI), land rights (by Ken Otieno of RECONCILE), and livestock value chains (by Tahira Mohamed of the Jameel Observatory/ILRI). Interacting with participants revealed a concensus that ‘healthy drylands’ require that we adopt inclusive and holistic perspectives and strategies while paying attention to diverse specific interventions – such as livestock management, land rights, mobility, water access, market and business opportunities, inclusion (women and youth), and co-benefit sharing.
On 12 December, at the CGIAR pavilion, we convened a session on ‘scaling innovations for healthier land, livelihoods and livestock in East Africa’. Building from the earlier session, our three panelists (Dereje Wakjira, IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development; Guyo Malicha Roba, ILRI/Jameel Observatory; and Tahira Mohamed, ILRI/Jameel Observatory) highlighted where, in drylands and pastoral areas, we need more and better innovation; they also elaborated on some specific innovations that they see having greatest potential for scaling. Watch the video recording.
On 12 December, Tahira Mohamed contributed to a side event on ‘Greening the Sahel with smart Water-Energy-Food technologies‘ organised by the United Nations University.
On 9 December, Peter Ballantyne contributed to a CGIAR pavilion event on ‘uncovering the link between drought and malnutrition‘ (watch the video recording) and subsequent launch of the CGIAR ‘drought action catalyst’ – news story / technical brief
From 10-13 December, we introduced our work through an exhibit at the United Kingdom Pavilion (see some pictures below).
CLARE project (climate adaptation and resilience in tropical drylands) visitors to Observatory stand (left to right): Baba Ibrahim Goni (Maiduguri University); Tahira Mohamed (ILRI/Jameel Observatory); Japhet Kashaigili (Sokoine University of Agriculture); Susan Njambi-Szlapka (University of Edinburgh/Jameel Observatory); Guyo Malicha Roba (ILRI/Jameel Observatory); Mohammad Shamsudduha (University College London); Peter Ballantyne (University of Edinburgh/Jameel Observatory)
