Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture
in Recurrent and Protracted Crises
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Simon Levine

Simon Levine leads the Pastoralism and Crises thematic group in SPARC. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute and specialises in livelihoods and vulnerability analysis, land rights, and in early response in humanitarian crises.

Featured resources

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Kodet Abraham harvests fodder that he has grown for his livestock, Karamoja, Uganda, 2021. Image by Ezra Millstein / Mercy Corps
Technical report

Northern Uganda continues to cope with the aftermath of war, despite millions of dollars in aid and numerous post-war development programmes.
Local farmers in Khost Province Afghanistan - image by Resolute Support Media - CC BY 2.0 DEED

This policy brief looks at why aid practitioners' governance reforms in Afghanistan failed to understand or engage with existing village-level governance structures.
An Afghan farmer and his family stand beside a tractor - image by SOC Neil Chapman Defence Images - CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED

This policy brief looks at how aid practitioners in Afghanistan assumed a high degree of uniformity in the rural economy that does not exist, to the detriment of development interventions.
A local breadmaker prepares stacks of bread in Helmand Province, Afghanistan - image by Resolute Support Media - CC-BY-2.0-DEED

This policy brief looks at why millions of dollars of aid and investment failed to transform Afghanistan's economy.
Wheat harvest in Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan - image by Alex Treadway / ICIMOD - CC-BY-NC-2.0-DEED

This policy brief looks at why aid practitioners missed an important opportunity to bolster food security by supporting improved post-harvest processing and storage in Afghanistan.

Latest news and features

IDPs who have been displaced by fighting in the Bajaur tribal area on the Pak-Afghan border have poured in to the Jalozai refugee camp at Nowshera in the North West Frontier Province. Credit: Abdul Majeed Goraya/IRIN. Blog

What do aid practitioners need to do to engage more seriously with context? Simon Levine unpacks the key lessons from SPARC's new report.
Improved Food Security - Photo by USAID- CC BY-NC 2.0 Blog

How re-thinking how we understand 'resilience' can spur climate, development and humanitarian actors to work together to support people in the Sahel facing complex, multiple challenges.
A girl stands watch over a herd of goats at Bakara Animal Market in Mogadishu. Blog

How are rural families in Somalia dealing with the impacts of Covid-19? SPARC speaks to farmers, agropastoralists, pastoralists and traders.

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