Pastoral Livestock Marketing in Eastern Africa: Research and Policy Changes

Pastoral development in Africa, particularly donor-funded development, tends to go in phases. At present we are in what can be described as the "policy" phase. During the 1990s, and continuing into the present decade, there has been much emphasis put on the effect of poor government policies in hampering economic progress in Africa generally. There has been a corresponding increased emphasis on the impact of such policies on pastoral people, areas and systems and on the extent to which pastoralists themselves can or should participate in identifying and advocating key policy issues. This emphasis has led to clearer identification of the policy issues most seriously affecting pastoralism.