SPARC

An event flyer that says "women and pastoral livelihoods: recording available" with pictures of four female speakers and their names and titles below.

👩‍🌾 Women & Pastoral Livelihoods: Innovating for a Sustainable Future🍀

Watch our recent webinar with @sparc-ideas.bsky.social , @mercycorps.bsky.social and partners!

▶️ edin.ac/43Tf61Y

#Gender #Pastoralism #SustainableLivestock

📍If you’re at the LANDac Conference 2025, join our event on ‘Learning from SPARC research on gender & youth issues in farmer-herder conflicts & pastoral land governance’ on Fri, July 4.

We’ll share evidence from pastoralists in the drylands of #SouthSudan, #Sudan & #Nigeria.

➡️ bit.ly/44sDrLJ

👏Congratulations to SPARC researcher Kelvin Shikuku for being shortlisted (out of 200 applicants) for the Sasakawa Awards at the Global Platform for #DRR for his work on KAZNET - a crowdsourcing mobile phone app. #GP2025

www.sparc-knowledge.org/news-blog/ne...

@ilri.org @undrr.bsky.social

🏆#SPARC_Ideas researcher Kelvin Shikuku shortlisted for 2025 @undrr.bsky.social ‬‬ Sasakawa Award for work on mobile phone app KAZNET.

The winner will be announced today at #GP2025
⌛️18:15 - 19:15 (UTC +2 Geneva) June 5.
▶️Watch live & find out more: bit.ly/45GGy3H

🚨 Join us on 22 May for the webinar coorganised by SPARC alongside @socialprotection.org and @odi.global: "Do public works programmes create valuable assets for livelihoods and resilience in #Ethiopia and #Kenya?"

🕛 22 May 2025: 14:00 GMT+1
🔗Register: tinyurl.com/2hhb8fpv #SPARCideas

How to stop Nigeria’s worsening farmer-pastoralist violence A new Ministry of Livestock has been hailed as a key step in addressing worsening farmer-herder conflicts. The reality is more complicated.

Nigeria's new Ministry of Livestock has been hailed as a key step in addressing worsening farmer-herder conflicts. The reality is more complicated.

📢 Read the new article by SPARC researcher Sarli Nana: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2025...

#SPARCideas #pastoralism #Nigeria

How can policy & investments empower women & drive prosperity in drylands?

Don’t miss our webinar on May 15 on ‘Women & pastoral livelihoods’ – we’ll explore scalable, #gender-inclusive solutions for resilient & sustainable livestock systems: ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/regi... #SPARCIdeas

SPARC researchers are working with policymakers in #Kenya to support sustainable development in drylands & protect #pastoralists' rights.

Check our new blog on how we’re supporting the review of Kenya’s national land policy: bit.ly/3Y1wcXQ

#SPARCIdeas @fao.org (📸by Sweder Breet / Unsplash)

In the drylands of #Kenya and #Ethiopia, the digital transformation of livestock markets is gathering pace, and contributing to that is a livestock data platform named KAZNET.

Read the story: bit.ly/3QWJaCf

@ilri.org @cgiar.org @bioversityciat.bsky.social @sparc-ideas.bsky.social

Darfur's long-distance trade: impact of war and Rapid Support Forces' trade embargo This brief provides an overview of the effect of the war and the subsequent embargo imposed by the Rapid Support Forces on regular trade into and out of areas it controls, with a focus on Darfur.

🔍 Brief 2: The #RSF ’s trade embargo has crippled cross-border commerce from #Sudan, especially in livestock. This has not only deepened economic hardship but also intensified local tensions and disrupted livelihoods.​ www.sparc-knowledge.org/publications...
(3/3)

The impact of war on trade and markets in Darfur: destruction, resilience and adaptation This brief provides an overview of how trade and markets in Darfur have adapted, positively and negatively, to the conflict since full-scale war broke out in April 2023.

🔍 Brief 1: Conflict has devastated markets, disrupted supply chains, and inflated trade costs in #Darfur, #Sudan. Yet traders have shown remarkable resilience - rerouting convoys, forging new alliances, and navigating insecurity to keep goods moving.​
www.sparc-knowledge.org/publications...
(2/3)

🧵What impact has civil war had on markets and trade in #Sudan?

The latest SPARC briefs shed light on the profound impacts of war on #Darfur's trade networks since April 2023.

#SPARCideas (1/3)

Behavioural and norms-responsive animal health systems for pastoralists in Ethiopia and Kenya SPARC partnered with MarketShare Associates to conduct a field-based study on gender-inclusive animal health services (AHS) delivery in pastoral communities across Ethiopia and Kenya.

How can governments and business better support the livestock trade & pastoralists’ livelihoods?

This new brief sets out how improving access to and delivery of animal health services in Kenya & Ethiopia – including for women – is key: bit.ly/3DRVSPw
#SPARCIdeas #gender @fao.org

Causes of Farmer–Herder Conflicts In Africa This new report provides insights into the causes of farmer–herder conflict, uncovering trends and potential gaps in understanding.

Today @ilri.org's Fiona Flintan is sharing #SPARCideas research on how to mitigate impacts of farmer-herder conflict in the #Sahel at a forum, as part of ‘ACRES-WA: Advancing Climate Resilience & Environmental Security in W Africa’ project.

Read our work on farmer-herder conflicts: bit.ly/3FaxskH

A review of approaches to the integration of humanitarian and development aid: the case of drought management in the Horn of Africa This study reviews approaches to the integration of humanitarian and development aid directed at drought management in the Horn of Africa

Why have attempts to link #humanitarian help & long-term #development had limited success when tackling #drought in the Horn of #Africa?

Our researchers' new journal article looks at how a lack of #community participation w/ #pastoralists is part of the problem: bit.ly/4jAO5FM #SPARCideas

🔭Anticipatory action can help reduce the impact of disasters in the Horn of Africa - so what is preventing it from being scaled up?

Our new blog looks at how existing disaster risk management strategies can inform #AnticipatoryAction: www.sparc-knowledge.org/anticipatory... #SPARCideas

YouTube video by SPARC Knowledge How are pastoralists using digital technologies?

⏯️☕️Today's 3-minute #SPARCideas: SPARC researcher Alexis Teyie on #pastoralists' quick take-up of digital technologies, and what this means for future lives and livelihoods in #Africa's #drylands: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHMF... #pastoralism

YouTube video by SPARC Knowledge How can aid be more effective in protracted crises?

⏯️☕Today's 3-minute #SPARCideas: SPARC researcher Muzzamil Abdi Sheikh on why increasingly complex crises - in countries like his home Somalia - require a change in the way we think about development:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdYK...

✏️This week the SPARC team has been busy in Naivasha, working to synthesise 5 years of SPARC research into #drylands #development.

Watch this space for more on our key messages - and stay up to date with our newsletter here: sparc-knowledge.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=... #SPARCideas

🏆SPARC's partner, the Nigerian NGO FUDECO, has won the UN-POLAC award for its work w/ #pastoralists in Nigeria’s #drylands.

Find out more about the award & FUDECO's work here:👉https://www.sparc-knowledge.org/news-blog/news/sparc-partner-fudeco-wins-un-award #SPARCideas @katharinevincent.bsky.social

Climate change costs Somalia $2.84 billion in agricultural losses Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia is grappling with the devastating impact of climate change, which has inflicted $2.84 billion in agricultural and livestock losses over two decades. A new report by SPARC (Su...

👁️‍🗨️Spotted: #SPARCideas research in Somali publication Hiiraan Online.

In 2024, SPARC published data on #LossAndDamage across 18 countries in Africa.

It found that, 2000-2021, climate-linked disasters cost #Somalia 4.5% of its agricultural GDP annually.

Read more▶️ www.hiiraan.com/news4/2024/D...

A look back at #SPARCideas' digital impact in 2024.

✉️SPARC is a research-to-action programme comanaged by @odi.global, @ilri-cgiar.bsky.social, Mercy Corps and Cowater. Sign up to our newsletter to stay updated in 2025: sparc-knowledge.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

We're new to BlueSky!🎉

🖱️Follow us to find out more about SPARC's work informing more effective development interventions in the drylands of #Africa and the #MiddleEast - and find out more about what we do here: www.sparc-knowledge.org #SPARCideas

📸Sam Sheridan/Mercy Corps