Traditional coping mechanisms for climate change of pastoralists in South Omo, Ethiopia

Pastoral groups in the Horn of Africa are marginalized and live under extreme poverty. Climate change brings newer and more complicated challenges. It is expected that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events will increase in the region. This will have devastating consequences for the peoples of the region in general and the pastoral communities in particular. This paper examines traditional coping mechanisms that the Dassanech and Nyangatom pastoral groups of the South Omo valley, southern Ethiopia use. These include: migration, herd diversification, herd splitting, income diversification, restocking and local alliances. The interventions of governmental and non-governmental actors by and large overlook the capacity of such traditional mechanisms. The Ethiopian government focuses on settlement in its development intervention and believes that settling pastoral communities through introduction of irrigation schemes would bring them a more 'stable' way of life. However, we contend that introduction of large-scale irrigation in the Omo valley would bring pastoral communities more challenges than opportunities. The paper's major conclusion is that the adoption of viable policies to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change in the Omo valley requires a concerted effort to recognize and to utilize efficiently the traditional knowledge of pastoral groups.