Herding on the Brink Towards a Global Survey of Pastoral Communities and Conflict

The paper examines the systemic vulnerabilities of pastoralists, who manage approximately 25 percent of the world's land area. It argues that conflict in these regions is driven by a combination of ecological shocks, the encroachment of agricultural frontiers, and the political marginalization of herding communities by state governments. Using a sustainable livelihoods framework, the authors identify threats to natural, financial, physical, human, social, and political capital. The document concludes that technical interventions alone are insufficient; sustainable peace requires integrating pastoralists into wider societal and political structures, protecting their mobility and resource access, and empowering their political representation.

• Pastoralism is a critical global food production system, supporting approximately 200 million households and nearly a billion head of livestock, providing 10 percent of global meat production on 25 percent of the world's land area.
• Pastoral communities are highly vulnerable to 'resource scarcity' and 'inequity of access', often facing the loss of traditional migratory routes and pastures due to the expansion of agriculture, nature conservation areas, and the hardening of international borders.
• State governments frequently marginalize pastoralists, often ignoring customary resource management in favor of imported land tenure systems, such as privatization or state centralization, which can trigger conflict.
• Conflict in pastoral regions is exacerbated by the presence of unemployed youth and the influx of modern weaponry, making these populations susceptible to recruitment by insurgent groups.
• A sustainable livelihoods perspective identifies six forms of capital threatened in pastoral areas: natural (rangelands, water), financial (livestock assets), physical (infrastructure), human (traditional knowledge), social (trust and reciprocity), and political (representation).
• Pastoralists often suffer from unfavorable market terms of trade during crises, such as droughts or livestock bans, which severely reduces their purchasing power for staple cereals.
• Past technical interventions in pastoral areas, such as water development projects, have sometimes caused unintended harm by increasing herd density and destabilizing local social relationships and access rights.
• Effective conflict resolution requires a multi-dimensional approach that includes restoring access to critical resources, engaging women in peace-building, strengthening pastoral civil society, and developing 'political capital' at national and global levels.

APA

Nori, M., Switzer, J., & Crawford, A. (n.d.). Herding on the Brink Towards a Global Survey of Pastoral Communities and Conflict. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_herding_on_brink.pdf

Chicago

Nori, Michele, Jason Switzer, and Alec Crawford. Herding on the Brink Towards a Global Survey of Pastoral Communities and Conflict. International Institute for Sustainable Development, n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_herding_on_brink.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nori |first1=Michele |last2=Switzer |first2=Jason |last3=Crawford |first3=Alec |title=Herding on the Brink Towards a Global Survey of Pastoral Communities and Conflict |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_herding_on_brink.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{norindherding, author = {Nori, Michele and Switzer, Jason and Crawford, Alec}, title = {{Herding on the Brink Towards a Global Survey of Pastoral Communities and Conflict}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/security_herding_on_brink.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }