Community based Pastoral Field School Facilitators, Laikipia County

Pastoral systems are the main livelihood option for providing food, income and employment in challenging territories such as arid and semiarid areas. Pastoralism, which is characterised by seasonal mobility of livestock in search of nutritious pastures and water, is widely believed to be uneconomic, environmentally destructive and no longer able to provide pastoralists with sustainable and decent livelihoods. This is because pastoral communities in the drylands of Eastern Africa are increasingly vulnerable to food and livelihood crises. Many reasons have been cited for this, including climate change and increased climatic shocks such as droughts and floods.