Understanding the Representation of Pastoralism in Livestock-Related Climate Adaptation Policies in Ghana and Nigeria: A Review of Key Policy Documents

Jonathan H.I Tinsley; Lovemore C Gwiriri

doi:10.3197/np.2022.260105

Understanding the Representation of Pastoralism in Livestock-Related Climate Adaptation Policies in Ghana and Nigeria: A Review of Key Policy Documents

Jonathan H.I Tinsley, Lovemore C Gwiriri

Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

276 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Within Nigeria and Ghana, pastoralists face increasing adversity from climate change and marginalisation due to a complex combination of factors, further amplified by highly sensitive and increasingly violent conflicts with farmers. While climate change exacerbates the vulnerability of pastoralists, this remains largely unaccounted for in current Nigerian and Ghanaian pastoral livestock policy. Employing a thematic analytical approach, the article assesses the representation of pastoralists within climate change adaptation strategies in Ghana and Nigeria, and the impact of this on their livelihoods. Our findings indicate that pastoralists are poorly represented in current policy, which is inclined towards transitions to intensive sedentary systems. This risks enhancing the vulnerability of pastoralists to climate impacts by constraining mobility. We conclude that improved clarity on how these policies account for climate change in transitioning pastoral systems into intensive sedentary systems could encourage compliance and buy-in by pastoralists and farmers. It is recommended that future livestock policies address climate change and bolster producer mobility to better support the livelihoods of pastoralists.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	83-105
Number of pages	23
Journal	Nomadic Peoples
Volume	26
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3197/np.2022.260105
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

This document is the author’s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

Keywords

West Africa
climate change adaptation
pastoralism
policy analysis
sedentarisation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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Understanding the Representation of Pastoralism in Livestock-Related Climate Adaptation Policies in Ghana and Nigeria: A Review of Key Policy Documents

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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