Humanitarian Aid Often Clashes With How Pastoralists Manage Risk

Recurrent droughts, conflict, and changing land use have placed significant strain on pastoral populations in the dryland regions of Africa, resulting in numerous crises that require humanitarian intervention.

Pastoralism is both an economic activity and a cultural identity rooted in the interaction of people, animals, and the environment. Livestock-keeping, mobility, and flexible resource management are central to pastoralist livelihoods.

While humanitarian actors typically assess vulnerability at the household or individual level, pastoralist communities tend to experience and manage risk collectively.

In a Disasters article, Feinstein International Center researchers Rahma Hassan, Elizabeth Stites, and co-authors examine vulnerability and humanitarian aid in pastoralist contexts, drawing upon qualitative research undertaken along the Kenya–Ethiopia border.

Hassan is a postdoctoral researcher whose work focuses on pastoralist livelihoods and resilience, as well as early warning and anticipatory action. Stites is Research Director for Conflict and Livelihoods at the Feinstein International Center and a Research Associate Professor at the Friedman School, specializing in how conflict and protracted crises affect livelihoods, particularly through gender and protection dynamics.

Their study finds that assistance models targeting individuals or households often overlook the collective systems through which pastoralists navigate hardship, and can unintentionally weaken these mechanisms of resilience. In pastoralist settings, the authors argue, more effective aid requires genuine engagement with community-led structures and a deeper understanding of local crisis‑management practices. 

As aid budgets shrink, the study calls for humanitarian agencies to genuinely engage with local perspectives and community-led systems.

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