Institute of Development Studies

This report is an investigation into the causes and consequences of livelihood vulnerability in Somali Region, Ethiopia. People in this region – pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, farmers and traders – have suffered a series of livelihood shocks in recent years, some natural (droughts, livestock disease), others political (a crackdown on contraband trade, bans by Gulf states on livestock imports, violent conflict between (sub-)clans or between Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) militia and the state). As a result of these multiple shocks, and because rainfall in the Horn of Africa has been low in recent years, questions are being asked about the sustainability of pastoralism as a livelihood system, not only in Somali Region but throughout the Greater Horn of Africa.