Arbajahan Ward, located within the arid landscape of Wajir West, Wajir County, is home to a resilient pastoral community heavily reliant on rangelands for sustenance. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in collaboration with the Resource Conflict Institute(RECONCILE), initiated Participatory Rangeland Management (PRM) to build the capacity of local communities to better manage their lands. A Capacity Strengthening Workshop for the Rangeland Management Committee was a pivotal component to this and was successfully held from October 31st to November 2nd, 2023.

Rangelands in arid and semi-arid regions serve as grazing land for domesticated animals and therefore offer livelihood opportunities for most pastoral communities. Thus, the exposure of most rangelands in arid and semi-arid regions to threats that are associated with natural, social, economic, and political processes affects their capacity to provide socioeconomic and environmental support to the immediate and global communities.

The vast rangelands of Tunisia and Senegal are critical for the livelihoods of pastoral communities, providing grazing land for their herds and other essential resources and ecosystem services. However, these fragile ecosystems face numerous threats, including climate change, land degradation, and encroachment from urban and economic activities.

Presented by Domenech Carlos and Fiona Flintan at the Identification Mission Meeting for the Lowlands Livelihood Resilience Project, Phase Two, for the World Bank and Government of Ethiopia 6 March 2023, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This paper aligns current thinking on transboundary climate risk pathways with research on climate risk for pastoralists in African rangelands. Four pathways for transboundary transmission of climate risk were used as a framework for a narrative review of research literature on pastoralism and climate change. Selected cases were presented to highlight conclusions and recommendations. Pastoralism research reflects many aspects of risk management, particularly its relationship to mobility and the development of appropriate non-equilibrium models of pastoralist decision-making.

Rangelands in Tunisia, play a vital role in providing essential services such as clean water, air, forage, and habitat for diverse ecosystems. However, decades of degradation due to socioeconomic changes, abandonment of traditional grazing practices, and recurrent droughts have led to soil degradation and loss of plant species. Overgrazing, exacerbated by climatic aridity, has significantly reduced rangeland productivity. In response, the traditional rest technique (G'del) has been applied, but its sustainability remains a challenge.

Covering 41% of Earth's land, drylands are home to nearly 2 billion people relying on forests, rangelands, and agrosilvopastoral systems for survival. These areas provide crucial environmental services, supporting biodiversity, preventing erosion, averting land degradation, enhancing water infiltration, and boosting soil fertility. Amid global change, they serve as resilient landscapes and communities.

The study focused on the extensive rangelands in Kuwait, covering more than 75% of the total land area. These rangelands face severe degradation due to factors such as overgrazing, anthropic misuse, and mismanagement. The research aimed to assess the impact of natural restoration, specifically through resting, on vegetation cover and species richness in a fenced 1 km² area. The findings indicated that while perennial species cover remained consistent between fenced and unfenced areas, there was a notable increase in annual species cover within the fenced sections.

Rangelands in Tunisia, spanning approximately 5.5 million hectares, play a vital role in providing about 30% of livestock feed. However, widespread overexploitation, including overgrazing and wood cutting, has led to degradation and reduced productivity. To address this, a training initiative focused on rangeland survey, management, and restoration was conducted under the Livestock and Climate Initiative of OneCGIAR. The objective was to enhance the capacity of engineers and technical staff from relevant institutions.

Prescribed burning is gaining attention as a vital tool for managing rangeland ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering benefits for ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and overall land management. While fire is a natural and essential process that many ecosystems depend on, suppressing it can lead to the elimination of species and disrupt the ecological balance. Different ecosystems require varied approaches to fire management, with fire-sensitive ones needing protection and fire-dependent ones necessitating the right type and frequency of fire.

Pastoralist tenure systems are highly complex. Where customary institutions are functioning well, pastoralist women access and use resources as a member of a pastoralist group. Although policy and legislation call for more equity across societies, providing individual titles to women is not necessarily the answer. Strengthening women’s rights within the collective society while also supporting women’s capacities and abilities to participate meaningfully in decision-making processes and hold leadership positions will support more sustainable gender equality outcomes.