Recurrent drought, degraded rangelands and reduced access to traditional grazing lands have left pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) more vulnerable and facing severe livestock feed shortages. During dry spells, pastoral communities suffer from food and nutrition insecurity, as well as shrinking incomes occasioned by livestock losses and reduced livestock production. Climate change adds an extra layer of vulnerability to this already fragile ecosystem, exacerbating the underlying causes of poverty and food insecurity.

Over the last ten years, the Horn of Africa has faced seven major drought events, which have killed more than half of the cattle population in the most heavily affected areas and decimated the livelihoods of millions of pastoralists each year. Estimates indicate that during the 2016/2017 drought, over 2 million livestock were lost in Ethiopia’s Somali region alone. In these areas, cattle milk production decreased by as much as 80 percent.

During the past two decades, FAO and its partners have conducted Pastoralist Field Schools (PFS) in the Horn of Africa’s ASALs to address this challenging context. Specifically, this document describes how their recent experiences with PFS in Kenya and Ethiopia have contributed to restoring the livelihoods of livestock-dependent communities through improved pasture management.