Livelihoods Transformation

The livelihoods of farmers and herders (i.e. agro-pastoralists) in climate vulnerable and conflict-affected situations are increasingly unviable. With limited access to adaptive options and rising competition over dwindling resources, these populations are facing escalating vulnerability to poverty, food insecurity, and conflict. While a range of approaches exist to support agro-pastoralists to adapt within their existing livelihood strategies, there is a dearth of solutions available to those for whom maintenance of the current strategy is not feasible. The IRC is working with our clients in Somalia and South Sudan to change that.

A Double Bind: When the Status Quo Breaks and Nothing Replaces It

Problem A: The status quo is no longer an option. Certain livelihoods are becoming unviable due to the negative impacts of both sudden and slow onset disasters, a situation that is exacerbated by the mismanagement of natural resources by both governments and communities. Further, adaptive options to maintain these livelihoods are constrained due to inadequate national financial resources (low GDP), government policies that restrict adaptive options in terms of water and land use, and conflict dynamics which destroy infrastructure and limit mobility.

For example, in Somalia poor rainfall in repeated seasons has contributed to livestock losses, high food prices and erosion in purchasing power. Even in relatively good rainfall years, there has not been enough time for herd recovery before the following hazard. Farmers and pastoralists are struggling to generate enough income to meet their basic needs and have become increasingly dependent on humanitarian aid, which is dwindling in its availability.

Problem B: There are no alternatives available. Agro-pastoralists with unviable livelihoods have limited access to alternative or diversified livelihood options where they are, as well as limited access to safe and desirable migration. Poverty, limited access to tools, information, and resources, lack of safe non-farm livelihood alternatives, and social and cultural norms all limit alternative livelihood options for agropastoralists where they are. For those who wish to transform their livelihood through migration, poverty, limited access to information and safe migration pathways, poor conditions at the destination, and social and cultural norms all stand in the way.

For example, in Somalia climate-related livestock losses have severely eroded livelihoods and pastoralists have few viable options for adaptation locally, this has become a driver of migration and displacement. However, environmental degradation increasingly traps the most vulnerable in place, those who are able to move face high-risk migration routes marked by widespread exposure to violence and limited assistance.

These conditions erode adaptive capacity over time—ultimately limiting agro-pastoralists’ ability to transform and diversify into alternative livelihood options and increasing their dependence on aid to meet their basic needs.

The limited existing programs that aim, in whole or in part, to address this thorny issue are fragmented, concentrated in a few geographies, and lack strong evidence of impact. There is an urgent need for innovative, client-centered approaches that address both the erosion of pastoral strategies and the scarcity of adaptive alternatives.

Uncovering Options in Option-Scarce Environments

IRC innovation, technical, and country teams are now working with agro-pastoralists and other system stakeholders in Somalia and South Sudan to identify potential pathways to transform livelihoods where it seems no options exist. The research questions guiding our inquiry include: