The Organisation of African Unity’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (OAU/IBAR) has been working to improve the animal resources of Africa for over 50 years. During this time there have been significant successes in the control and eradication of major epizootic diseases such as rinderpest, improved production and marketing along with the re-organisation of African Veterinary Services to meet changing global standards.
This review by Larry Minear of Tufts University takes an objective look at the recent activities of IBAR related to conflict management in pastoralist areas and puts them in the context of what others are doing in the region and globally.
This assessment was undertaken at the request of OAU/IBAR’s CAPE Unit and the Feinstein International Famine Center, which supports the Unit’s work through personnel and other contributed resources. The study focuses on the impacts of the Pastoral Community Harmonization Initiative (PCHI), now in its fourth year.
The assessment is based on a week’s participation in PCHI peace crusades in Sudan and northeast Kenya and on three weeks of report-reading and interviews with government officials, partner organizations, and others in Nairobi. More than 75 people were interviewed from some three dozen organizations and some two dozen reports consulted.
