Drought. Its impacts on pastoral societies

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Meteorology, Aeronomy, Climatology, grade: A, Bahir Dar University (Institute of Disaster Risk Management and Food security Studies), course: SINER SEMINAR, language: English, abstract: This paper reviews the impact of drought on pastoral societies in their livelihood system. Livestock mortalities and morbidity, human morbidity, conflicts, food insecurity, reduction of livestock prices, and increase in food prices were among the socioeconomic impacts of drought experienced. Drought have also a great impact in pastoral society¿s in terms of decreasing livestock trade and marketing, increasing conflict and insecurity, decrease the education and increase destitution among the societies. Drought is a major cause of poverty in pastoral communities.

Pastoralists experience decline in levels of productivity from their herds following losses in livestock capital from deaths, low calving rates, low milk production and weight loss, which consequently reduce the market value of livestock through drought. It is therefore a fact that drought results in destruction and collapse of pastoralists livelihoods, dependence on food aid and long-term destitution. Furthermore, reduction of pastoralists¿ purchasing power is one of the important economic effects of recurrent droughts. To cater for their nutritional and energy needs, pastoral communities purchase cereals and other foods with the proceeds from sales of livestock and livestock products.