Voice from the field 1
Evictions of pastoralists in Tanzania
Edward Porokwa, Pastoralists Indigenous Non-Governmental Organizations (PINGO)’s Forum, Tanzania
Pastoralists from Maasai communities are suffering from evictions, threats, and violations of their rights. Here are some examples.
In 2022, the creation of the Pololeti Game Reserve transformed 1,500 km2 of legally recognized village land into a restricted conservation site. The state also developed a systematic strategy of “impoverishment by fines” to drain the community of its only capital—livestock. Pastoralists had to pay to recover their livestock from auctions after the animals were seized for grazing in protected areas. A similar situation occurred around the Losimingori Forest Reserve, where pastoralist access to grazing areas and forest resources was restricted.
Another serious violation took place around Kilimanjaro International Airport, where over 20,000 residents lost homes and rainwater collection tanks, and schools and were forced to accept low “compensation”. Sacred sites, such as Endonyo Olmorwak and social services are now behind airport fences.
This situation has not ended. There are at least 15 new areas proposed as Game Reserves, limiting access to grazing and settlement areas. Additionally, according to a PINGO’s Forum study, the project of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline lacked full consultation and compensation processes and has already had negative impacts. Maasai villages are also being targeted for soil carbon credit projects, which restrict land use for grazing and mobility. In 2025, Indigenous civil society organizations called for a moratorium on these projects, but the proponents continued to push communities and pressure district leaders to sign agreements.
These current and future enforcement practices are only increasing vulnerability, dependency, and long-term insecurity for pastoral communities.
Voices from the field 2
Pastoral Code in Chad
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Association des Femmes Peules et Peuples Autochtones du Chad (Indigenous Women and Peoples’ Association of Chad) – AFPAT, Chad – WAMIP Central Africa
Chad is one of the countries that has adopted a Pastoral Code. The Code was sanctioned in 2015, but it was not considered appropriate by many members of society, therefore it was rejected. Currently, the code is being discussed again, but the country’s Ministry of Livestock holds a different view regarding helders, nomadic people and pastoralist.
Despite this, Chad has good practices regarding pastoralism. It is the only country in Africa with a special education for nomadic children. This education system was based on a study done by in 2010 through a collaboration between experts from pastoralist communities, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Livestock.
Chad also has a specific health system for pastoralists, which includes care for livestock and humans. They are combined in the health system to ensure that the needs of the communities are taken into consideration.
Another important initiative has been developed by AFPAT. We combined Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge from the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities and scientific knowledge to create participatory maps that help demarcate and establish land rights, as well as manage and share natural resources. Over 600 community leaders participated, and we managed to protect more than 500,000 hectares, including villages, nomadic livelihoods and areas such as the islands around Lake Chad. The participatory mapping also helped us secure land rights for women, build income-generating activities, and reduce conflicts over resources between farmers and pastoralists.
Voices from the field 3
Land and mining: New struggles for Mongolia’s pastoralists
Ariell Ahearn, Steps without Borders, Mongolia
Mongolia is home to thousands of families for whom nomadic pastoralism is a core livelihood strategy. However, mining development in many parts of the country is generating severe negative impacts for pastoralists.
In Dundgovi Province, a woman pastoralist told us her story. She was born and raised in a place called Gurvanbulgiin Khets, 50–60 kilometres from where she currently lives with her family. She learned everything from her mother, then married a neighbour and started their own household. In her community, livelihoods depended on livestock: “To live well, one must rely on the blessings of the livestock and the land. If a herder works hard, life shines brighter, and livestock give more benefits in return. A person’s life shines among others when they work and contribute to the community.” She taught her children and grandchildren in the same way, and she said they want to return and take over the family livelihood, “but the mining companies are surrounding us and enclosing the pastureland.”
Since the mining companies arrived, she has noticed that drinking water has become scarce, the climate has become drier, and the land has been dug up. Livestock suffer when they are forced to leave their grazing areas: “Tears well up in their eyes, and they run away. When they return to the old pasture, they roll around — even livestock miss their homeland.” Herders are also experiencing threats, online persecution, and intimidation if they speak out against the mining industry.
Their traditional way of life is disappearing: animals can no longer graze freely, and diseases — mainly lung problems — have increased. “We really don’t know what kind of long-term harm it may cause to future generations or to the animals’ offspring,” she told us sadly. She also had to migrate with her livestock, moving more than a thousand kilometres from province to province until they found a place to stay.
Nomadic culture has also been affected, but families are fighting to keep it alive: “Even if it’s far away, we still try to come back and perform the rituals. If it’s a sacred mountain, we try to visit and pay respect, then leave again. For Mongolian herders, preserving this nomadic lifestyle is vital. I don’t think Western-style farming will work in Mongolia.”
Voices from the field 4
Conflict management initiatives in Cameroon
Ali Ali Shatou, Mbororo Pastoralists (Cameroon), Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (MBOSCUDA), WAMIP Central Africa
Various initiatives have been developed by governments, civil society organizations, and other partners to address agropastoral conflicts and strengthen pastoral governance.
The Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (MBOSCUDA) established community dialogue platforms to facilitate communication between farmers, pastoralists, traditional leaders, and local authorities. These platforms have reduced tensions, promoted peaceful coexistence, and resolved land-use conflicts.
Another important initiative is the Peaceful Transhumance and Development of Pastoral Economy in the Lake Chad Region, which spans several countries in the region, including Cameroon. This initiative aims to strengthen community dialogue mechanisms and enhance cooperation for cross-border pastoral mobility.
A significant policy framework is the 2019 N’Djamena Declaration on Transhumance, which was signed by the governments of Central and West Africa. The declaration calls for securing transhumance corridors, promoting sustainable management, improving coordination between security and environmental authorities, and strengthening conflict prevention mechanisms between pastoralists and farmers.
However, women’s participation remains limited in discussions and decision-making processes. Even when women are present, cultural norms and gender power dynamics often prevent them from contributing to the dialogue. Therefore, other interventions seek to strengthen pastoral livelihoods and reduce economic vulnerability, especially among women. MBOSCUDA supports women in integrating small ruminant production with agroecological farming practices, including crop cultivation and household gardens. Other projects promote value addition, entrepreneurship development, and financial literacy.
Voices from the field 5
Asia pastoralist women’s gathering – MERA+15
Megha Sheth, South Asia Pastoral Alliance (India) and WAMIP South Asia
Last December, more than 350 pastoralist women from nine Asian countries gathered in Guarat, India, for the “Rising Recognition” event, marking 15 years since the MERA Declaration emerged from the first-ever global gathering of pastoralist women in 2010.
This regional gathering was a celebration of pastoralist women as economic leaders, biodiversity custodians, and keepers of knowledge. During our three-day meeting, we revisited the MERA Declaration, through deep regional and subregional discussions. Participation, solidarity, and support allow us to collectively reclaim space, memory, and voice, especially now that it is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) and the International Year of the Women Farmer (IYWF). Five themes emerged: 1) recognition, dignity and protection of pastoralist women; 2) defence of mobility, grazing lands and safety; 3) acknowledgement of women’s role as environmental custodians; 4) access to social and economic justice; 5) strengthening of our governance, representation, and leadership.
After the event, we returned to our communities and continued these dialogues, sharing, refining, and strengthening our perspectives. Finally, we adopted the Asian Pastoralist Women’s Declaration: MERA+15, which reaffirms that our expertise must shape land, climate, and environmental governance at all levels.
Our hope is to keep walking together toward and beyond IYRP2026, making sure our voices are heard, and valued. We claim rights over our lives, livelihoods, and territories because it is our way of life.
Credits: Maldhari Rural Action Group (MARAG), South Asia Pastoral Alliance and WAMIP
Voices from the field 6
Scientists in support of pastoralism
Carlos Bolomey, History and Geography Department, University of Tarapacá, Chile / Collective of Agrarian Scholar-Activists from the South (CASAS)
Pastoralism deserves a science that commits to pastoralist struggles. Where pastoralism is practised, scientists looking at these realities must aim to identify the gaps that constrain these communities and prevent them from unlocking their potential. At the same time, those scientists involved in training professionals and teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to rural development and veterinary science must use their influence within their institutions to advocate for the inclusion of pastoralists’ worldviews. For example, this can be done through ethnoveterinary approaches, rural sociology or any discipline that will endow professionals with the empathy and sensibility needed when working in these settings. As such, they will be less likely to reproduce practices associated with the livestock revolution[1], which make little sense in pastoralist contexts.
Scientists working with pastoralist communities should acknowledge and give credit to their heritage, while also sounding the alarm when intensive livestock production co-opts and instrumentalises pastoral knowledge and practices. This is especially relevant when industrial livestock enterprises use labels such as “free roaming” or “grass-fed” to advertise production methods that remain environmentally and socially damaging.
Because institutions often poorly understand these communities, planning can overlook them, leaving pastoral territories vulnerable to land grabbing for conservation parks, mining, or renewable energy projects. Along this vein, scientists who build alliances with pastoral communities should engage directly with these threats and adopt rights-based approaches by socialising instruments such as UNDROP, International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169 or national laws that seek to protect pastoral livelihoods.
Scientific work in pastoral territories must remain in communication with the needs, concerns and claims expressed by pastoralists themselves. Science has the capacity to inform public debate and raise awareness about contentious issues that, at first sight, may appear to be environmental or development initiatives. These include, for example, the legal protection of wild predators without consideration of pastoralist livelihoods, the creation of conservation parks that restrict customary land use or sedentarisation efforts. In other words, extractivist science that seeks only to publish academic outputs without bringing pastoralist concerns to the front and centre should be discouraged. Participatory action research emerges as a feasible way to address this concern, since it seeks to foster the empowerment of local actors and to produce socially meaningful knowledge. Meanwhile, science must remain reflective about its own practices. This might involve, approaching pastoral communities through transdisciplinary frameworks that value “scientific expertise” and local pastoralist knowledge on equal terms.
[1] The “livestock revolution” describes both the rapid increase in demand for animal-source foods in the Global South and the transition of livestock production systems from smallholder, multi-purpose models to specialized, intensive, and geographically concentrated industrial production.