‘The Land Has Become Empty’: The Climate Crisis, Somali Nomadic Pastoralists and Livestock Enclosures

Abstract

This article contributes to scholarship on climate change education and action, sustainability, knowledge co-production, nomadic pastoralism, livestock enclosures and Somalia. It does so by examining the nomadic pastoralist practice in Somalia of cutting down bushes and trees to create livestock enclosures. It shows that the climate crisis is making this practice unsustainable. The qualitative research methods used were literature reviews, engaging situated knowledges and lived experiences, knowledge co-production, survey interviews and focus group discussions. The project was designed as an exercise in climate change education and action which integrates scientific and indigenous and local knowledge. The approach used enables an understanding of why enclosures are used and therefore what factors have to be considered in moving towards more sustainable practices that contribute to effective climate action. The article reports a potentially valuable reforestation climate action generated from the nomadic pastoralist community: livestock enclosures made from living trees.

Keywords

• Knowledge co-creation methodology; climate crisis; sustainability; nomadic pastoralists; livestock enclosures; Somalia