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Description of  Confronting Drought in Africa's Drylands: Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience (Africa Development Forum)

Drylands represent the front line in the battle for poverty eradication and resource conservation in Africa. While we know that millions of people in drylands are exposed to the threat of land degradation and periodically fall victim to droughts and other shocks, actions to address these challenges have been fragmented, too many times prompted only by humanitarian crises, and in the end largely inadequate. This book provides a solid, evidence-based assessment of the potential for the many interventions that can improve crop and livestock production and allow better stewardship of natural resources, thereby significantly lowering the numbers of people exposed to risk. The analysis is sound, and it will help to provide empirical content to the debate about solutions, which up until now has all too often been based on anecdotal evidence. The book s overall message is clear: unless we move quickly to step up actions for enhanced governance, land tenure, and integrated ecosystem management, African drylands will soon face unmanageable challenges. Inger Andersen, Director-General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) It is well known that a major obstacle to Africa s development is its vulnerability to climate-related shocks, which are expected to become more frequent and more severe with climate change. Droughts, in particular, claim lives, dissipate household assets and savings, and drain governments budgets and international development assistance. This book provides a sound assessment of the ability of different interventions to make rural livelihoods more resilient to droughts, generating quantitative, location-specific estimates that will be very helpful in informing policies. It shows that millions of people can become more resilient through better programs and projects in agriculture, natural resources management, and social protection. But risks cannot be eliminated altogether, and the book clearly points to the importance of developing complementary policies to mitigate them, through instruments for risk-pooling and management, and through programs for livelihoods diversification. I am glad that the African Risk Capacity, a new African instrument to enhance resilience, was able to contribute to this valuable and innovative study. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chairperson, Governing Board of African Risk Capacity (ARC) Keeping of livestock, the traditional livelihood source for 40 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, is increasingly threatened by intensifying weather-related shocks, proliferating civil conflict, and rising criminality. This important new book offers decision makers and the international donor community a number of options to seize the opportunity for increasing livestock productivity and production in drylands. It comprehensively analyzes present and future challenges to drylands livestock systems, estimates the costs of alternative interventions, and assesses the likely effectiveness of those interventions in improving the resilience of the concerned populations. The authors lay out a comprehensive analytical framework that can help to structure the ongoing intensive policy dialogue between local governments, the international donor community, and livestock keepers and thereby contribute to the identification of viable options for promoting more productive and resilient livelihood strategies. Antonio Rota, Senior Livestock Advisor, International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD)