Resource information
The major economic activity for pastoralists is animal husbandry. The harshenvironment in which herders raise their livestock requires constant mobility toregulate resource utilization via a common property regime. In contrast to themobile way of life characterizing pastoralism, agriculture as a sedentary activity isonly marginally present in the lowlands of the Afar regional state in Ethiopia.Nevertheless, this study reveals a situation where the traditional land–usearrangements in Afar are being transformed due to the introduction of farming. Inthe past, the Imperial and the Socialist governments introduced large–scaleagriculture in a coercive manner, thereby instigating massive resistance from thepastoralists. Currently, the recurrence of drought in the study areas has facilitatedthe subdivision of the communal land on a voluntary basis for the purpose offarming. Qualitative and quantitative analysis highlight the drivers, both coerciveand non–coercive, of the transformation of traditional property rights of Afarpastoralists.
