Tropentag, September 16 - 18, 2026, Göttingen "Towards multi-functional agro-ecosystems promoting climate-resilient futures"

Gender transformative approaches in pastoral systems in Africa: Lessons and reflections for equitable resilience

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya

Abstract

Pastoral systems across Africa are commonly characterised by mobility, adaptability to climate variability, and communal tenure and resource governance. Navigating uncertainties in the face of compounding shocks and stresses is key to pastoral livelihoods and resilience. Resilience capacities, however, are uneven. Intersecting inequities along gender, generation, marital status, education and other axes shape differential access to and ownership of livestock, resources, services and decision-making agency, deepening vulnerabilities for women, girls and marginalised groups. Gender transformative approaches (GTAs) can play a vital role here by addressing restrictive norms and harmful practices underpinning these inequities. By strengthening community-led efforts toward sustainable social change, GTAs offer pathways to make resilience of pastoral systems more equitable. We examined the status of GTAs in pastoral areas across 13 countries in East and West Africa, using multiple methods including a literature review, 11 key informant interviews and 5 stakeholder workshops.
We applied the Reach–Benefit–Empower–Transform (RBET) framework and identified 18 interventions that demonstrate transformative impacts in pastoral contexts. Key findings indicate GTAs are typically layered or embedded within broader programmes on livelihoods, resilience, health, and land and natural resource governance rather than implemented as standalone interventions. Interventions targeting adolescent girls show a socially differentiated approach, accounting for marital status and literacy levels while engaging multiple generations and customary institutions. Transformative impacts are more consistently documented in women’s decision-making, reductions in harmful practices, and women’s participation and leadership in natural resource management and governance — domains central to pastoral resilience. Key mechanisms driving these outcomes include collective action, community dialogue, and deliberate engagement of men, elders and local champions.
To unlock the full potential of GTAs, design must go further in integrating unique characteristics and challenges of pastoral systems related to mobility, conflict and peacebuilding, and polygynous household arrangements. Rigorous, context-sensitive monitoring and evaluation that extend beyond programme life cycles are needed to build evidence on what works, where, for whom, how and under what conditions. We conclude with actionable recommendations for tailoring GTAs to complex pastoral realities. This can help generate critical insights around equitable resilience relevant for diverse contexts in and beyond rangelands.

Keywords: Africa, equitable resilience, gender transformative approaches, pastoral systems, rangelands, social norms

Contact Address: Tanaya DuttaGupta, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Livestock, Climate and Environment, Livestock, Climate and Environment, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Box 30709, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya, e-mail: t.duttaguptacgiar.org