We need pastoralists!

Misereor in collaboration with the League for Pastoral Peoples, DITSL (German Institute for Tropical & Subtropical Agriculture), Foundation for Ecological Security and Welt-Sichten, published a dossier “We need pastoralists” (2026, 20pp) edited by Sabine Dorlöchter-Sulser and colleagues in Africa and Asia. It focuses on how herders and crop farmers collaborate to sustain fertile landscapes. An estimated half a billion people worldwide depend on pastoralism for their livelihoods. Pastoralists keep around one billion animals, accounting for around half of the world’s livestock. They make a significant contribution to food security and the economy by supplying milk, meat, hides, skins and live animals for domestic consumption and export. Their mobile production system enhances biodiversity on rangelands and sustains their function as carbon sinks.

However, in the public sphere, most reports on pastoralists are full of myths and prejudices. The media often reports on conflicts between settled farming communities and mobile herders, but rarely on the close relationships, mutual exchange and peaceful coexistence between these groups that have developed over time. The dossier aims to mark the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026) by filling this gap.

It is available in English and German.

Posted on 10 September 2026 in Pastoralism & Peacebuilding, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition, Value of Pastoralism