Pastoralist Support Strategy

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Background document on Afghan Pastoralists

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Pastoralist Support Strategy

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Purpose

This Pastoralist Support Strategy is the final result of a consultative process towards the development of a broad-based vision for support to the Afghan pastoralists. This process was supported by government (notably the Ministry of Frontiers and Tribal Affairs [MFTA] and Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Food [MAAHF]), donors, national and international experts, and most importantly the pastoralists themselves.

 It needs to be recognized that not all current of former pastoralists can or may want to continue a fully nomadic lifestyle. Acknowledging that the nomadic way of life is currently not the preferred way of life for all the ‘pastoralists’ and not all those that dropped out of pastoralism will be able to return to a nomadic lifestyle, opportunities for establishing alternative ‘non-pastoral’ livelihoods will also need to be reviewed.

 Therefore support to the kuchi does not necessarily mean returning them all to being pastoralists. It means supporting them to develop or maintain a sustainable livelihood in the best way possible, keeping in mind environmental, economic, humanitarian, and socio-cultural factors. This strategy will look at ways to support ‘the pastoral way of life’ for the pastoralists as well as to support the establishment of a ‘non-pastoral way of life’ for those that recently dropped out of pastoralism.   

The strategy aims at establishing or maintaining a sustainable livelihood for the kuchi, and has a specific focus on economic sustainability. In terms of sustaining a sustainable livelihood, economic sustainability is but one of the contributing factors. It is recognized that human capital development in the shape of education and human health care receives insufficient attention in this strategy document. Nevertheless, through the establishment of effective institutional mechanisms for the active inclusion of kuchi in sectoral policy, strategy and program development, which is one of the stated objectives of the strategy, the road map is laid out to also start addressing these very important issues.

Consultative process

To arrive at this Pastoralist Support Strategy document a number of consultative steps were taken. As the first step a background document was developed, which this strategy draws heavily upon. This document aimed at providing sufficient background information, to enable all the stakeholders to work from the same information base. This document has been widely distributed, and may be accessed via 'Background document'.

 A series of meetings has been held in the Ministry of Frontiers and Tribal Affairs, to provide a platform for a consultation process with the relevant line ministries, with knowledgeable individuals from the different sectors, and representatives from the international community.

 On November 15^th – 17^th a Conference on Pastoralists took place in Kabul, Afghanistan, where a wide variety of stakeholders met and shared ideas. International experience was brought in, to allow Afghanistan to benefit from worldwide experience, and to make optimal use of ‘best practices’ discovered elsewhere. The Conference was an opportunity for policy makers, implementing organizations, and donor organizations to share views with kuchi leaders. Key themes and issues were identified in the Conference, and constructive and practical approaches to solving some of the problems were discussed. The Conference report may be accessed via 'Conference Report'.

 The kuchi shura (a national council of kuchi representatives, established under the Ministry of Frontiers and Tribal Affairs) plays a key role in ensuring that national and international expert advice actually corresponds with the reality on ground. They have been involved in discussions on all the main issues covered in the strategy document.

 All stakeholders have been invited to comment to and contribute in detail on the draft strategy document, and these comments have been taken into consideration in this final Pastoralist Support Strategy document.