As part of its matchmaking approach that devises data-driven early action food security solutions for dry areas, the Jameel Observatory supports researchers looking for answers that pastoral communities can use to overcome climate changes. Post-doctoral Fellows supported by the Observatory combine their academic research with the development of products and tools that have practical applications in drylands.
Tahira Mohamed is an interdisciplinary social scientist with origins in the cross-border Borana pastoralist communities of Isiolo and Marsabit Counties in Northern Kenya. She recently completed her doctoral research through the PASTRES project at the Institute of Development Studies. Her doctoral thesis examined how ‘moral economies’ and ‘safety net’ institutions are evolving among the Waso pastoralists of Northern Kenya’s Isiolo County, looking at collective solidarities and resource redistribution in managing dryland variabilities such as drought, conflict, and other livelihood shocks between 1975-2020. She also has a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Nairobi.
Before taking up this appointment, Tahira contributed to an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) study on local forms of resilience through a ‘reliability professional network’ lens in pastoral production. This generated a series of blog posts on what resilience means from the local pastoralist’s perspective. She has also worked as a field researcher with the Effective State and Inclusive Development research centre at the University of Manchester on the politics of implementing social protection in Marsabit County.
Tahira is based at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya where her research is co-financed by the Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action and the Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent and Protracted Crises (SPARC) project.
Research focus and plans
Working with ILRI’s Todd Crane, Tahira’s research focuses on the nexus between short-term humanitarian response and long-term resilience programming in East Africa’s pastoral settings and the possible lessons we could draw for food security early action.
This work is inspired by the primary framing by many development agencies of their programmes in pastoral areas towards ‘building resilience’ and ending emergencies. However, emergencies continue to emerge through time and space, and vulnerabilities among pastoral communities intensifies. Her research will examine the missing links between emergency responses via humanitarian support and the development agenda of building resilience. Where are the disconnects? How can the two approaches speak to each other? And what is the future of resilience/humanitarian programming in pastoral areas?
Jameel Observatory significance
Ideas for Tahira’s research emerged from conversations at our first Community of Practice meeting in April 2022 where there was discussion around the disconnects between emergency response and long-term resilience building. Although the Observatory has an initial focus on early warning and early action, this also needs an eye on the longer term to avoid a vicious cycle of humanitarian effort.
More
Follow Tahira on Twitter: @twahirah3 and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahira-shariff-84a554104/
View her publications on ORCID
Contact us for more information or to partner with us: