This study addresses whether or not crop cultivation by Borana herders in southern Ethiopia is motivated by poverty since 80% of the households belong to poor wealth classes (i.e., poor, very poor and destitute). Yet our findings showed little evidence that Borana communities have become self-sufficient in grain production. Compared to wealthy households, poor households generally cultivated the least land and sampled households, producing yields only 31% of the Ethiopian national average. Grain per capita met only 26% of the annual requirement per person, equivalent to three to four months of self-sufficiency per household. The livelihood response model (LRM) developed for testing the relationship between extent of croplands and household wealth showed that poverty alone cannot be motivating herders to cultivate crops. Factors such as shortage of labor, lack of sufficient traction animals, and unreliable rainfall also need to be considered. Crop cultivation has not enabled selfsufficiency, but it has resulted in fragmented grazing lands. Future policies address changes in land use, including improving soil fertility through manure-nutrient transfers, by promoting better integration of crop cultivation and pastoralism. Research is needed to (a) understand household time allocation between crop cultivation and livestock management, (b) improve the LRM by considering temporal variability in the wealth of households and extent of cultivated lands, and (c) understand the role of poverty in motivating the adoption of alternative livelihood coping strategies.

Persistent inter-ethnic conflicts in southern Ethiopia have created a crisis in security of customary land tenure in the grazing lands. This article explores the links between government administrative policies and inter-ethnic conflicts on grazing resource borders by discussing the historical relationships between contesting pastoral groups, their perceptions of resource borders and how the groups used government policies of ethnic-based decentralisation and referendum to claim ownership rights to grazing lands. The article contextualises the discussions within the politics of land use. Inter-ethnic conflicts have interfered with customary resource allocations by undermining customary institutions for resource sharing. There is a need for urgent dialogue between the government and different pastoral communities for negotiating access to key resources supported by conflict resolution in the southern rangelands of Ethiopia.

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PurposeThis paper seeks to describe an attempt to assess at the local level the progress that has been internationally achieved in recognition of community and indigenous rights, and of indigenous and community conserved areas. An action‐research exercise was implemented in Ethiopia with a mobile indigenous people of evaluating customary as well as government‐led governance of the environment, with the objective of strengthening the capacity of the Borana‐Oromo to conserve their landscape.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on collaborative research implemented by the authors in 2002 while SOS Sahel Ethiopia was introducing collaborative forest management, and on a 2007 action research project specifically designed to broaden the scope of the involvement of the customary leadership in sustainable landscape management.FindingsThe research demonstrates the high degree of articulation and efficacy of customary governance as opposed to the failure of State‐centric attempts to protect specific areas within the broader landscape. Customary institutions, however, are increasingly delegitimised and incapable of coping with new challenges such as massive immigration, political marginalisation and de facto land privatisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe action‐research was insufficient to achieve the goal due to limitations in the national legislation, inefficiency by the government in implementing the existing policies, and the persisting practice of imposing development with insufficient prior consultation.Practical implicationsBased on an informed review of the international and national legislation and policies, the customary leaders of the Borana have released a public statement asking for support in addressing the gaps and problems they have identified, particularly achieving legal recognition of the customary institutions and customary laws in relation to biodiversity conservation. At national level it was recommended to organize a workshop on community conservation of biodiversity and community rights, with the objective of disseminating awareness about the latest instruments and Resolutions in the context of IUCN and the CBD.Originality/valueThe customary governance of the Borana is based on the gadaa generation class system, highly articulated in terms of norms and procedures. The territory is vast and it includes government‐protected areas due to the importance of the biodiversity. The case contributes to raising awareness about the relevance of legislation and enhancement of rights at national level.

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