trade

Changing policy makers’ perceptions of pastoralism is a challenging and long-term process. An important starting point is to improve their understanding of its dynamics and economic rationale, particularly the direct and indirect economic contributions it makes to national and regional economies.

Livestock mobility allows millions of pastoralists to lead productive lives in areas few other producers can exploit. In dryland environments it enables pastoralists to exploit variability in pastures and water to their advantage. It is critical for livelihoods, trade, and for coping with climate change.

This programme sets out to map, elicit and integrate knowledge on the dilemmas confronting small-scale producers in global, regional and national markets.

The programme recently got underway with the establishment of a global peer-to-peer learning network, led from Bolivia by IIED international fellow Diego Muñoz.  The first of three sets of regional consultations took place in Peru and Nicaragua in August 2009. IIED, together with partners Hivos (Netherlands) and Mainumby (La Paz) organised two round table discussions, in Lima and Managua, with potential partners from Central and South America. Further regional consultations will take place in Asia and Africa later in the year.

Livestock mobility allows millions of pastoralists and agropastoralists to lead productive lives in areas few other producers can exploit. It is critical for local livelihoods, for trade, and for coping with climate change. In several parts of Africa there are important efforts underway to facilitate livestock mobility and to remove the obstacles that constrain the inherent flexibility of pastoral systems.

This new collaborative initiative will engage research, civil society and private sector partners to develop new business models that enable smallholders to participate in sustainable trading relationships with international businesses and thereby improve their livelihoods.

We are building a major programme of work on the linkages between market structure and the ability of primary commodity markets to deliver on environmental and socio-economic objectives.

The forestry sector in developing countries is dominated by small and medium sized forest enterprises. But the diverse range of these enterprises makes it difficult to understand the contribution they make to sustainability and poverty reduction.