Held from 23rd February -1st March 2025 at Camp Simpirre, Gotu (Isiolo) Kenya
Preamble
We, the student-participants, gathered for the inaugural summer school reaffirm our commitment to advocating for the new narratives of pastoralism that espouse community-centered approaches and processes in policy, development, and humanitarian interventions.
Recognizing pastoralism as the most viable production system in the drylands, supporting millions of people, and emphasizing the role of pastoralists as stewards of their environments and their contribution to economic growth and development. But being cognizant of the myriad challenges facing drylands and their people, as well as the historical stigma and marginalization, climate change, conflicts, and resource degradation that threaten the sustainability of pastoralism and undermine socio-economic development. We emphasize the need for collective support to shape and implement future narratives on drylands, ensuring that pastoral communities are both heard and actively involved in discourses shaping their future. Additionally, policy priorities, development interventions, and research should be grounded in cultural sensitivity, dryland realities, and perspectives and aspirations for development, climate change adaptation, governance, and policymaking.
Acknowledging
- The indigenous knowledge of the local communities supporting their coping mechanisms and resilience as critical pathways to adaptation and sustainable development,
- Mobility as an integral part of pastoral systems enabling access to and management of natural resources,
- The importance of livestock to pastoral cultures and livelihoods, yet in need of critical infrastructure support around livestock services,
- The roles of traditional governance structures and customary institutions in promoting sustainable resource management and alternative conflict resolution mechanisms.
We commit to:
Research and evidence
- Unlearn biases and critically examine dominant narratives, employing integrated approaches that reflect the realities of pastoralist communities.
- Promote and support the use and uptake of evidence-based research on drylands and pastoralism through enhanced science-policy interfaces that effectively link research with practice.
- Ensure that pastoralism is accurately represented in academic and public discourse through proactive communication, writing, blogging, and debunking misinformation.
- Engage in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research collaborations that apply diverse methods and integrate local knowledge systems with scientific research to enhance policy relevance and practical outcomes for dryland communities.
- Acknowledge the importance of indigenous knowledge in early warning systems, conflict resolution, resource management, and resilience-building initiatives by actively incorporating community perspectives in our work.
Gender equality and social inclusion
- Ensure the inclusion of women, youth, and people with disabilities in the development of pastoralism policies, programs, and initiatives, and recognize the disparities that exist within each group.
- Promote targeted interventions that address the unique challenges faced by women, youth, and people with disabilities in pastoralist communities, including access to education, healthcare, and financial services.
- Foster youth engagement in pastoralism, entrepreneurship, and climate action, ensuring that youth voices are integrated into governance and development processes.
Natural resources and conservation
- Promote inclusive governance systems for natural resources that are recognized in policies and ensure equitable access and management for pastoralist communities.
- Advance peaceful coexistence among communities through sustainable, transparent resource-sharing practices that enhance resilience and social cohesion.
- Call for secure land tenure rights for pastoralists that safeguard their livelihoods and promote sustainable land management.
Land, water, and infrastructure
- Craft and implement policies that are deliberate in purpose, grounded in evidence, and designed for tangible impact on pastoral communities.
- Effectively advocate to amplify the voices of dryland communities, influence decision-makers, and secure resources for sustainable development.
- Advocate for inclusive and equitable access to land, water, and infrastructure to support the livelihoods and mobility of pastoralist communities.
- Call for integrated approaches that align infrastructure development with sustainable resource management and climate resilience strategies for drylands.
Early warning and humanitarian aid
- Advocate for policy-executive spaces that include and engage pastoral-centered, locally embedded institutions, knowledge systems, and platforms for information sharing and deliberation.
- Call for the integration of local early warning systems with scientific knowledge to increase communities’ ability to prepare and respond to hazards risks through timely and coordinated responses to crises in drylands.
- Support community-led early warning mechanisms that leverage traditional knowledge and technologies to forecast and manage risks.
- Urge for increased funding and capacity building to strengthen pastoralist communities’ ability to respond effectively to humanitarian crises, emphasizing dignity, self-reliance, and long-term resilience.
- Call for increased and sustained funding commitments from governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and development partners to finance long-term resilience and adaptation programs in drylands.
Peace and Security: Conflict and peacebuilding
- Recognize that complex, interconnected conflicts in pastoral drylands are driven by political, resource, ethnic, and climate issues, and we commit to prioritizing comprehensive conflict analysis and sensitive programming in all interventions in these areas.
- Respect traditional resolution mechanisms and advocate for their integration into legal frameworks alongside national and regional laws that promote peace and cohesion.
- Seek collaboration and partnership with other stakeholders, including regional organizations, governments, the private sector, civil societies, and local organizations, to enhance peace and development.
Livestock and markets
- Call for the urgent development of updated livestock master plans that offer unified policy frameworks that actively engage pastoralist communities in their formulation, strengthen livestock production and marketing, promote private sector involvement in infrastructure development,
- and establish cross-border market regulations to drive sustainable growth and export opportunities for livestock sectors in the region.
Climate and resilience
- Work towards resilience building as transformative processes rooted in relationships, networks, and local institutions rather than knee-jerk reactions to disasters.
- Call for future resilience-building initiatives to integrate local knowledge, institutions, and local constructs of resilience into policy and practice.
- Address pastoralism as a product of climate adaptation and resist policy designs that aim to diversify out of pastoralism. We advocate for diversification within pastoralism to strengthen livelihoods and promote resilience.
- Promote Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) that align with pastoralist management objectives in land restoration, soil and water conservation, and climate adaptation.
Collaborations and partnerships
- Support the Centre for Research and Development in Drylands (CRDD) and other partner organizations to establish networks and bring in partners to enhance scholarship, policy activism, fellowships, and research grants for dryland resilience.
- Involve the media in disseminating new narratives that reflect pastoralist perspectives and local knowledge.
- Strengthen the Dryland Futures Academy as a platform for education, knowledge exchange, and capacity building.
- Highlight the need for multi-stakeholder cooperation, cross-regional knowledge exchange, capacity building, public-private partnerships, and transboundary cooperation to address shared challenges effectively.
- Being active ambassadors for “Resilience from Below” and advocating for inclusive policies and practices within our organizations and spheres of influence.
Finance and resource mobilization
- Call for enhanced financial commitments and budgetary allocations that are guided by pastoralist interests and priorities, ensuring that financial resources directly support livelihoods, mobility, and adaptive capacities of pastoral communities.
- Urge the creation of accessible climate financing mechanisms, ensuring direct community engagement in fund allocation and management.
- Call for increased accountability and transparency in the allocation and utilization of resilience funds, ensuring that financial resources are equitably distributed to pastoral communities and effectively utilized to strengthen their traditional livelihoods, mobility, and adaptive capacities. This includes prioritizing community-led decision-making, supporting pastoral infrastructure, and ensuring that funds directly benefit pastoralist resilience strategies rather than imposing external models of development.
- Call upon National Government Ministries responsible for pastoralist livestock production and livelihoods, the Frontier Counties Development Council (Kenya), and the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (Kenya), as well as other partners to collectively work towards development in pastoral contexts as well as advocate for the honoring of commitments in the Malabo Declaration.
Finally, we thank the Centre for Research and Development in Drylands (CRDD), the Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action, the Feinstein International Center, and partners for successfully convening the inaugural Summer School 2025 and for their warm hospitality accorded to all participants. In the witness thereof, all summer school student participants assembled at Camp Simpirre make this declaration on the 28th day of February 2025, in Isiolo, Kenya.
The ‘Drylands summer school’ – exploring local constructs of resilience in the face of shocks and uncertainties in the drylands – was held in Isiolo, Kenya from 23-28 February 2025. It was co-organized by the Center for Research and Development in the Drylands, the Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action and the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, with financial support from the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research and Community Jameel.
Download the signed Declaration here.