Socio-Ecological System Dynamics and Rangeland Governance in Borana Pastoral System: A Case Study of Yabello District, Southern Ethiopia
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Date
2019-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This dissertation strived to understand the social-ecological systems (SES) dynamics in the
Borana rangelands, how these transformations derived pastoral system vulnerability and how
pastoralists are responding to the changes. In relating pastoral system vulnerability with the
crisis in environmental governance, the paper strived to unpack the Borana rangeland
governance systems including customary institutions, evolving pastoral development policies,
and network form of rangeland governance. The study employed a mix of primary data collection
methods such as focused group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews, observation and
household survey of 186 respondents randomly selected from six purposively selected kebeles in
Yabello district. To examine network governance structures, social network analysis(with a total
of 53 actors) was conducted. To analyze the collected data, various tools such as descriptive
statistics, index and econometric (logit) model were employed. The Borana pastoral SES has
undergone negative transformations due to interrelated deriving forces such as climate, socioeconomic, policy, and geopolitical dynamics. As a consequence, the resilience of the SES of the
pastoral system has considerably been deteriorated. Indigenous rangeland governance
institutions are weakening due to reinforcing internal and external factors which, in turn,
endangered the sustainable governance of the human-rangeland ecology interactions. Although
they are less likely to abandon pastoralism, most of the Borana pastoral households were found to
have already embraced diverse non-pastoral activities (some of which have negative implications
for the resilience of the pastoral system) to sustain their life in the face of internal and external
pressures. The social network analysis revealed that the current rangeland governance structures
have limited capacity to develop a collaborative process and sufficiently respond to complex
rangeland governance challenges. Based on the findings, it is recommended that in the first place
the mono-centric and top-down governance approaches that decoupled human subsystem from
ecological subsystem should be shifted towards holistic approaches and collaborative process that
encourage the networks of actors enabling the use of scattered resources and capacities across
scales, sectors, and domains of the governance system. In line with this, as customary
institutions are deep-rooted in the indigenous knowledge and value systems, revitalizing the
customary institutions is suggested to establish multi-governance structures that can enhance
SES resilience.
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Keywords
Borana, Pastoral System, Socio-ecological dynamics, Rangeland governance, social network