Haramata Communications Initiative

Haramata – bulletin of the drylands – published 55 issues from 1988 to 2010. It established itself as a valuable information and networking channel for people working for the sustainable development of dryland areas, mainly but not exclusively in Africa.

Article, 13 October 2008

Published in English and French from 1988 to 2010, Haramata also sought to bridge the language divide between anglophone and francophone regions. The last issue, its 55th, was produced in collaboration with partners in East and West Africa.

On this page there are links and information about Haramata's last six issues. The full series is available to browse and download from IIED's searchable Publications Library.


Haramata 55

Debate: The war over the Family Code in Mali; averting an environmental catastrophe in Kenya; the role of traditional institutions in water resource governance in the Borana lowlands, southern Ethiopia.

Focus on... climate change: Copenhagen – what happened?; voices from COP15; climate change: the reality in Kenyan villages; small grants to support local strategies for adaptation to climate change; trailblazers: how the pastoralists of Diffa are coping with change; local agreements, climate change and local development; soil carbon sequestration; REDD – protecting climate, forests and livelihoods?; are we overlooking biomass energy?

Innovations: Transformative education for nomads; pastoralists picture land use; eradicating East Coast Fever; solar-powered drip irrigation in Benin


Haramata 54

Debate: Fertilisers and the food crisis: debating soil fertility in Africa; gender-based violence among the Afar in Ethiopia.

Focus on... biofuels: A polarised debate?; what do the experts say?; bioenergy and pastoralism; biofuels and land rights in Mozambique; a view from India.

Reports: Dakar's building boom; WoDaaBe herders turn unpredictability into a key resource.

Innovations: Using mobile phones in pastoral livestock marketing in Kenya.


Haramata 53

Debate: Gender is not the problem: the problem is patriarchy; is education a licence to exploit the people?

Focus on… climate change: How will it affect drylands? Drought or deluge – or a bit of both...?

Reports: Conflict over carbon offsets in Uganda


Haramata 52

Debate: Anchoring gender in African realities; a spectacular case of regeneration in Niger.

Focus on… China in Africa: Chinatown in Dakar; timber trade in Mozambique.

Reports: So why don't they plan for droughts in pastoral areas? Making land reform work for those who need it least – a lesson from South Africa


Haramata 51

Debate: Desertification – four targets for better results; East Africa urgently needs a framework for customary law; women in Africa – still far to go.

Reports: How "good governance" can be a bad idea – an example from Namibia; for a world where all of us control our food.

Focus on… The small-town challenges of decentralisation.


Haramata 50

The 50th special issue, extended to 40 pages, focuses on old and new challenges in the drylands.

Debate: The key issues of urbanisation and climate change.

Innovations: Examining up-to-the-minute technologies that are changing people's lives. 


Further reading

Drylands Issue Papers

The Drylands programme also published Issue Papers in English and French that provide a forum for practitioners and policymakers to share ideas and experiences on the wide range of development issues that affect people living in dryland areas. Three to four Issue Papers accompanied each 'Haramata', allowing for subjects to be treated in greater depth.