Livestock supports the livelihoods of approximately 987 million people in rural areas globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where it contributes significantly to the agricultural GDP. However, challenges such as water scarcity, policy neglect, and climate change hinder sustainable livestock production and threaten the well-being of pastoral communities. IFAD aims to improve rural livelihoods by promoting integrated water-livestock management approaches that enhance resource access, sustainability, and community capacity in managing these critical assets.

1. Topic sheet
InnoWat
Water and livestock for
rural livelihoods
Context
Globally, livestock provides livelihood support to an estimated 987 million people in rural
areas (figure 1). This is equivalent to 36 per cent of the total number of poor, currently
estimated to be 2,735 million people.1 In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), livestock production is a
major livelihood activity – it directly supports about 10 per cent of the people in the region,
while another 58 per cent are partially dependent on this source. The sector is of critical
importance to the regional rural economy and the well-being of poor rural people.
In terms of livelihood support, income and employment, the livestock sector is a major
contributor to rural livelihoods. As an economic activity in SSA, it generates about 25 per cent
of agricultural GDP – and up to 30 per cent if non-food livestock products, such as manure
and animal draught power, are taken into account.
1 ‘Number of poor people’ refers to Livestock plays multiple roles in the livelihood strategies of rural communities. In many, it
people living on less than two dollars
a day.
is intricately linked to social status through accumulation, sharing of wealth and savings.
2 Sub-Saharan Africa experiences Hence, it provides a variety of benefits to rural communities such as risk mitigation, wealth
economic water scarcity when human,
institutional and financial capital limit
accumulation, food security and improved nutrition.
access, even though water is available Despite the importance of the sector to poor rural people, however, livestock production has
in nature locally to meet human
demand. failed to achieve sustainable returns for poor livestock raisers owing to several key constraints.
Chief among them are water scarcity2 and the failure of policymakers to recognize the
importance of livestock to poor rural people, or to support them through appropriate polices
and interventions. Climate change, changing demographic dynamics, increasing competition for
water, and natural resource degradation also threaten their already fragile livelihoods. These
challenges are exacerbated by the continued marginalization of livestock raisers through
misguided policies and legislation that limit their access to land and water resources.
IFAD seeks to address these challenges and improve rural livelihoods by positively
harnessing the returns from investments in water and livestock and by better guiding such
Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty investments generally, so that they have greater pro-poor impact.

2. Figure 1 • Multiple-use service (MUS)3 approaches are
Distribution of poor livestock raisers still not considered, and water is often
Source: Thornton et al. 2002.
provided for single-use purposes.
• Misguided supply-driven approaches
emphasize the indiscriminate provision of
water in pastoral areas and often do not take
into account the negative impacts. These
include increased settlement around water
points and the subsequent livestock-induced
environmental degradation.
Decreasing natural resource base
• Demographic changes within SSA are exerting
great pressure on natural resources, resulting in
competition between pastoral communities
Main challenges and other groups (e.g. agriculture) and the loss
Policy and institutional constraints of resource access rights for pastoral groups.
• In many areas, land and water policies have • Changes in rainfall patterns and longer and
evolved independently (e.g. the water and more frequent droughts (likely induced by
rural codes in the Niger). climate change) are bound to result in
• There is a mismatch generally between formal increasingly scarce, scattered and irregular
(legal) and informal (customary rights) pasture and water resources, leading to a
regulations (e.g. in the Tanzanian Pangani significant increase in impoverishment among
River Basin). There is a lack of proper legal poor livestock raisers.
recognition of traditional local resource • Water resources are becoming increasingly
management systems and institutions in contaminated and polluted by multiple users –
the development of the water regulations livestock production (manure and wastewater
and policies that govern natural resource from processing), agriculture (agrochemicals),
use – a problem compounded by weak fisheries (antibiotics, nutrients), industry and
regulatory capacity. urban uses (wastewater) affecting both quality
• Misunderstanding and negative perceptions of and quantity.
pastoral systems have resulted in unfavorable • Misguided policies and interventions related to
policies that tend to constrain herd mobility. water development encourage the continuous
This in turn limits access to key natural concentration of pastoralists and livestock
resources such as land and water. around permanent water points. This fosters
• There is an inability to recognize the user environmental degradation: overgrazing,
rights of competing users and to manage the contamination of water resources through
allocation of water resources between diverse nutrient overload and the lowering of
groups of users with legal entitlements to the groundwater tables.
same water system, although pursuing • Diets are changing, driven by income growth
different production strategies. and urbanization. This will increase demand
• Water development interventions are often for livestock products and hence the amount
driven by the need to increase supplies of water and land used in their production.
through investment in infrastructure, rather
than by tackling issues such as governance and IFAD approaches
management (i.e. social infrastructure). Intersectoral management is a relatively new,
holistic approach that offers a promising
Access to resources framework for better understanding and pro-poor
• Access to water for productive purposes is mobilization of potential development synergies.
often constrained by factors such as erosion of In IFAD’s approach to water, this theme is not
traditional sharing and management central, but is considered a holistic element in
mechanisms, changes in land-tenure systems strengthening poor rural people's livelihoods and
and reallocation of land-cum-water access resilience. IFAD investment approaches to water-
rights to other user groups. related interface management take into account
3 See also the InnoWat topic sheet on ‘Reinforcing gender equity’.

3. the country-specific structures of the rural Technical approaches
political economy. In so doing, they support the • Promote appropriate technologies that: are
development of pro-poor, community-based suitable to poor rural people (e.g. water-
natural resource management (NRM) harvesting systems), provide water at low cost,
institutions, which in turn improve farmer-led are sustainable over the long term and
agriculture, natural resource technologies, and the improve the resilience of pastoral communities
sharing of knowledge of these achievements. (e.g. in Ethiopia, Somaliland and the Sudan).
IFAD seeks to reduce the poverty of poor • Promote the MUS approach (e.g. in Ethiopia ),
livestock raisers in SSA through targeted which can lead to improvements in water use
interventions that increase opportunities for poor efficiency and livelihoods, equitable access to
rural people to maximize returns from both water water and enhanced value-added from
and livestock. It aims to achieve this through the multiple uses (improved health, livestock
use of pro-poor tools and support for the production and income generation).
development of conducive institutional and • Use appropriate and tested technologies
policy frameworks across these sectors – (such as satellite imagery and GIS tools) that
frameworks that promote food security and ensure appropriate placement of water
equitable access to resources, increase economic infrastructure, and develop land-use
opportunities for livestock raisers and enhance management plans that facilitate sustainable
natural resource management. resource use and management (e.g. in the
Gash Barka area of Eritrea).
Institutional approaches • Locate water infrastructure appropriately so as
• Foster the participation and empowerment of to improve the livelihoods of poor livestock
livestock raisers and strengthen their capacity raisers, for example the provision of water along
to participate in policy debates and decision- marketing routes that connect poor pastoralists
making on issues that directly affect their to urban markets in order to improve livestock
livelihoods, such as increased community marketing chains (e.g. in the Sudan).
involvement in the design and
implementation of projects (e.g. as was done Investment approaches
in the Butana area of the Sudan). • Invest in water for livestock as part of a
• Strengthen community-based resource comprehensive package supported by
management through institution- and investments in improved access to veterinary
capacity-building and through promoting health services, markets and credit, and
sustainable, environmentally friendly resource improved breeds and feed in order to
management arrangements for range and maximize productivity and profitability.
water resources. • Invest to ensure that interventions recognize
• Support the development and strengthening of women’s roles as multiple water users (for
natural resource governance structures that both domestic and productive uses).
recognize the importance of informal, Inappropriate design or location of the water
traditional structures and management source may inadvertently increase the burden
mechanisms in pastoral systems. on women.
• Support the development of governance • Foster cross-sectoral cooperation, partnerships
systems that adequately address the and knowledge-sharing among donors,
interdependence of land and water resources; development agencies, national and
taking into account land-tenure systems, international research institutions and other
recognizing pre-existing land rights, and civil organizations concerned with water in
establishing clear and effective arbitration development (e.g. the CGIAR Challenge
mechanisms and the rights of the various Program in the Nile Basin).
stakeholders involved (e.g. in the Butana area • Support research that contributes to the
of the Sudan). monitoring of livestock/water interactions,
assessing lessons learned and best practices,
and addressing the knowledge gaps related to
these interactions to enable better water and
livestock decision-making.

4. IFAD case study
The Sudan: Butana Integrated Rural Development Project (2006-2014)
This IFAD-supported project addresses several adherence to cost recovery of O&M costs
of the challenges faced by the livestock sector and water pricing;
in SSA, including poor access to natural • facilitate community participation in the
resources (water and rangeland), inadequate management of the natural resource base (e.g.
institutional capacity to manage water and land participation in the selection of seasonal stock
resources, inadequate or no natural resource transhumance routes, allocation of areas for
governance structures, and increasing watering of stock and grazing, promotion of
environmental degradation from open-access conflict-resolution mechanisms relying on
regimes and a breakdown of informal resource customary arbitration, etc.);
management structures. • strengthen institutions and build capacity for
improved resource management through
Approach development and empowerment of legally
• incorporate a multi-stakeholder participatory recognized water and range management
and gender-sensitive approach to design and institutions, and through training in water and
implementation of the project; range resource management that targets both
• adopt a sustainable development and formal and informal institutions.
community-based approach to natural resource
management; Expected results
• establish community organizations to manage • greater community capability to manage natural
natural resources. resources and participate in decision-making;
• better governance of natural resources through
Water/livestock-related activities promoting alignment of the legislative
• develop a new natural-resource-governance frameworks governing access and use of range
regulatory framework that promotes a regulated and water resources;
rather than open-access regime for natural • greater capacity of communities to manage
resources, while recognizing the user rights of resources and enforce the new access rules
all stakeholders in the project area (pastoralists, developed under the project;
agropastoralists, transhumant communities • promotion of equitable access to water and
and residents); range resources, strengthened community
• support the development of cost-recovery resilience to drought and reduced conflict over
mechanisms based on benefit-sharing for the natural resources within the project area;
operation and maintenance (O&M) of collective • reduced environmental degradation and
assets such water and rangeland; desertification through re-establishment of
• establish new regulations for water investments regulated access and appropriate management
that set out clear criteria for the construction of resources;
Contact and/or rehabilitation of water infrastructure in the • improved livestock productivity as a result of
Rudolph Cleveringa rangeland, devolution of the management of improved animal nutrition and access to water
InnoWat Manager water facilities to local communities and during the dry season.
IFAD Technical Advisory Division
E-mail: r.cleveringa@ifad.org
www.ifad.org/english/ Additional information
water/innowat
Further reading
FAO. 2006a. Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization
Topic sheet authors: of the United Nations.
Carolyn Opio (FAO)
FAO.2006b. Land and water rights in the Sahel: Tenure challenges of improving access to water for agriculture.
Peer reviewed by: Livelihoods Support Programme. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Antonio Rota
ILRI. 2006. Investment options for integrated water-livestock-crop production in sub-Saharan Africa. Nairobi: International
(Technical Advisory Division,
Livestock Research Institute.
IFAD)
IWMI. 2007. Water for food, water for life: A comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture, by D. Molden.
London: Earthscan; and Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.
NEPAD. 2006. Integrating livestock, forestry and fisheries subsectors into the CAADP. Companion document,
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. Midrand, Johannesburg: New Partnership for
Africa’s Development.
Thornton, P.K., R.L. Kruska, N. Henninger, P.M. Kristjanson, R.S. Reid, F. Atieno, A.N. Odero and T. Ndegwa. 2002.
Mapping poverty and livestock in the developing world. Nairobi: ILRI.
Enabling poor rural people
International Fund for Useful partner websites
to overcome poverty
Agricultural Development
FAO Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative (LEAD): www.lead.virtualcentre.org/selector.htm
Via Paolo di Dono, 44
00142 Rome, Italy
FAO Water Development and Management Unit: www.fao.org/nr/water/index.html
Telephone: +39 06 54591 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI): www.ilri.org
Facsimile: +39 06 5043463 Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture: www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Assessment/
March 2009
E-mail: ifad@ifad.org Alive: http://alive-online.org
www.ifad.org International Water Management Institute (IWMI): www.iwmi.cgiar.org/
www.ruralpovertyportal.org