Drylands and pastoralism blogs
25 April 2013
Misperceptions of the drylands as barren and empty are leading to their mismanagement. An IIED mapping project aims to create a clearer picture of their value to pastoralists.
18 January 2013
As French and Malian combat soldiers fight al-Qaeda-linked groups in Mali, the director of IIED reflects on her experiences of life in a village near Diabaly, close to the conflict.
11 October 2012
Kenya’s pastoralists have an image problem. Their negative depiction by the Kenyan media ignores their knowledge and skills, which have led them to become a cornerstone of the country’s economy.
28 September 2012
Narrative means story, right? But not if you work on development policy, where narrative means something quite different: a framework for action, but one that can create problems if left to roll like a stone down a hill on its own.
25 July 2011
The images of Africans affected by the drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya paint a grim picture — thousands of people are again in desperate need and are being provided with food aid to allow t
25 November 2010
I have been thinking a lot about ‘time’. It’s been prompted by three things which remind me that, while we need to be realistic about how fast we can build a fairer, more sustainable world, there are some signs of progress.
29 October 2010
More people, more trees. This is the name of a new video, part-funded by IIED, which shows two decades of progress in addressing soil erosion in Burkina Faso and Kenya that have significantly improved rural livelihoods and farm productivity.
8 June 2010
The ancient tradition of pastoral nomadism in landlocked Niger in West Africa is a source of huge cultural wealth in one of the poorest countries on earth. But with Niger's eastern reaches suffering 35 years of drought – an entire generation's worth – local pastoralists have faced a massive challenge. Diffa, les premiers matins du monde is a video that tells the stories of many of these pastoralists and how they have coped with increasing drought.