SPARC podcast: Dynamic Drylands

Dynamic Drylands is a four-part podcast mini-series which explores new ways of thinking about aid, development and resilience in the drylands of Africa and the Middle East. You can listen on Spotify, Acast, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and YouTube.

Farmers and herders living in the drylands of Africa and the Middle East are used to dealing with uncertainty. But their resilience is being tested by new and complex challenges. 

In this podcast series, produced by SPARC, broadcaster Bola Mosuro talks to researchers, aid workers and herders about some of the new crises facing the drylands, and the dynamic ways in which people are responding to meet them. She asks: what does long-term resilience look like in these fast-changing places? How are pastoralists and farmers adapting and innovating? And what can governments, development organisations and businesses do to more effectively support them? 

One thing is clear: the drylands are more dynamic than you might think.

This podcast is aimed at development practitioners or people with an interest in pastoralism, farming, drylands development, and what effective aid and investment looks like in areas affected by conflict and protracted crises. 

More information about each episode is provided below. For more show notes, including additional resources, visit www.sparc-knowledge.org/dynamic-drylands-podcast

Episode 1: Do we need to rethink aid in the drylands?

Farmers and herders in the drylands are used to dealing with uncertainty and environmental unpredictability. So why are these millennia-old livelihood systems increasingly struggling to adapt to new shocks and crises? Bola Mosuro speaks with SPARC experts Dorice Agol, Colette Benoudhi, Muzzamil Abdi Sheikh and Simon Levine.

Listen to this episode on: Acast | Spotify | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

Episode 2: Untangling land tenure and conflict in the drylands

The drylands of Africa and the Middle East are home to millions of nomadic pastoralists, who make a living from livestock that move between water sources and seasonal grazing areas. It’s a way of life that has not just survived but thrived for thousands of years. But pastoralists’ access to land and natural resources is changing – and increasingly coming into contact with other people and new plans for drylands development. In this episode of Dynamic Drylands, Bola Mosuro speaks to SPARC researchers Fiona Flintan, Sarli Sardou Nana and Emmanuel Seck about how pastoralists access and manage land and natural resources, and how to resolve the knotty issue of farmer-herder conflicts.

Listen to this episode on: Acast | Spotify | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

Episode 3: Livestock: Inside the economic engine of the drylands

The livelihoods of pastoralists in the drylands of Africa and the Middle East centre around livestock: raising, milking and selling camels, cattle, goats and sheep. Far from being small and unprofitable, livestock keeping supplies millions of people in the region with meat and milk, as well as a source of income and exports. In this episode, Bola Mosuro talks with SPARC experts Rupsha Banerjee, Carmen Jacquez and Kelvin Shikuku about the relationship herders have to their livestock, and how markets and financial measures are being adapted to support people through new shocks and challenges.

Listen to this episode on: Acast | Spotify | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

Episode 4 : Pastoralism 4.0: Inventiveness and innovation in the drylands

How can a smartphone app improve the way pastoralists and farmers interpret weather and climate patterns? How does AI help with cattle sales? And how are new forms of social support transforming women’s lives and livelihoods? 

In this fourth and final episode of Dynamic Drylands, Bola Mosuro speaks to SPARC researchers Diba Wako, Tahira Mohamed, Alexis Teyie and Joshua Laizer about the innovative systems and strategies that herders and farmers are adopting to navigate new uncertainties.

Listen to this episode on: Acast | Spotify | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

Find out more on www.sparc-knowledge.org/dynamic-drylands-podcast