Changing realities

I often travel to visit projects in the country side, more especially in the drier parts of the country like South Omo and Borena. These are the areas where pastoralists and agro-pastoralists live. For centuries the pastoralists lived a nomadic lifestyle, making use of the pastures and water points for their livestock which provides for their livelihood. As the availability of pasture and water is not evenly spread the herders move their livestock from place to place, while women remain to look after their children, the elderly and young animals. Things are changing though and the areas in which the pastoralists can exist with their herds become smaller and smaller. The population numbers increase and movements become more restricted. The capacity of the land to provide fodder and water for the animals is limited and so the means for a sustainable livelihood become scarce. Global climate changes add yet other dimensions to the challenges the pastoralists face, including more frequent periods of drought but also floods as a result of changing rain patterns and erosion.
Pastoralists are livestock keepers and their livestock form the assets they are holding on to for as long as they can. When the dry season is prolonged and slowly turns into a drought, things begin to become difficult though. Distances to find pasture and water become longer, while neighbouring communities are searching for the same scarce resources, potentially leading to conflict. Stress begins to set in, affecting the people and animals alike. We are all familiar with the images of exhausted animals, slowly beginning to loose their value. De-stocking is a mechanism used by communities, development organizations and traders to prevent the total loss of the pastoralists’ assets. The animals are exchanged for cash and when things begin to return to normal, this is used to re-stock the herds again. This mechanism seems logical but I always wonder why this only happens when it seems almost too late. As a result, the value of the skinny animals is low and I guess it is the cattle owner who benefits least and the traders most.
The answers I normally get is that this is the culture of the pastoralists and they do not want to sell their animals if they can avoid it. Instead, they want to grow their herds, just like other people want to see their assets grow, for example by saving or investing in real estate. When asset go down in value, something needs to be done though in order not to loose everything that has been built up.
What are other options then? Selling the animals during the early stages of a threatening drought for example, before the assets become a liability. This seems a proper reaction to the luring threat but places the pastoralists still in a position, in which they depend on what the traders are willing to pay. The livestock owners are not in a strong position at all as the value of their assets will go down by the day.
What if we would look at the problem from a value chain perspective? A value chain begins at the production or collection of raw materials and follows a chain of steps in the process all the way to the end product to be purchased by the consumer. Every step adds value to the product. Processing, packaging, marketing, wholesaling and retailing are all steps in the value chain, normally carried out by different actors. Where somebody controls more links in the chain his position becomes stronger. Even if somebody controls only one link in the chain, his position can be strong enough to have an influence over the value added by that link.
Looking at the livestock market in and beyond Ethiopia, there is no question that there is a big demand for meat and other products like hides and skins. Now, where there is a constant demand, there should be a constant and high quality supply. It is here where in my opinion the pastoralists loose out as they are not consistent suppliers to the market because they only sell when they have to. And neither do they supply high enough quality because the animals they sell have already become weak. They don’t benefit.
As the realities are changing, I guess that adjusting to the changing external environment is a good option. This by the way has been the strength of pastoralists all along as they are able to continuously move and position themselves in relation to the opportunities threats presented to them by the land. Perhaps it is time for a bigger paradigm shift: Instead of being livestock keepers to becoming livestock breeders and position themselves as reliable and consistent suppliers of good quality meat and other livestock products.
I have no doubt in my mind that my reasoning may be somewhat simplistic but I’d encourage further thinking and dialogue in this direction in order for pastoralists communities to be able to take a stronger position in the livestock value chain than is the case so far.
As for all business owners, it is important to get a thorough insight in the value chain you are part of and to explore where you can strengthen your position and contribute to a stronger chain of consistent and high quality production for the local as well the export markets. Remember that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.