Sugar industrialization and distress selling of livestock among the Bodi pastoralists in Ethiopia’s lower Omo valley

Ethiopia's Lower Omo Valley, home to the Bodi pastoralists, is experiencing severe distress selling of livestock and collective impoverishment due to rapid transformations driven by state-led resource extraction. These changes, primarily the construction of the Gilgel Gibe III dam and large-scale sugar estates, have increased insecurity in the valley, leading to a deterioration in food security and livelihoods for the Bodi community. The study, based on long-term fieldwork, identifies three main reasons for market engagement: coping with hunger, high incidence of animal diseases, and high rates of male imprisonment. Additionally, the Bodi are constrained to engage in rain-fed farming, irrigated farming, or wage employment as alternative livelihoods. The research recommends addressing insecurity and its socio-political outcomes to resolve the erosion of livelihoods and impoverishment among the Bodi.

Gebresenbet, F. (2021). Sugar industrialization and distress selling of livestock among the Bodi pastoralists in Ethiopia’s lower Omo valley. Pastoralism, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00180-3