As the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 begins, read Guy Jobbins and Claire Bedelian in The Conversation about some key lessons from six years of SPARC research ➡️ theconversation.com/africas-dryl... #SPARCideas #IYRP #IYRP2026 #pastoralism

🎧 Now online: listen to Fulani pastoralist women - in their own words. This special episode of #DynamicDrylands interviews pastoralists in northern Nigeria about their experience being trained as community researchers - and the long-term impacts on their lives. ➡️ shows.acast.com/dynamic-dryl...

Markets in #Darfur haven’t collapsed. They’ve adapted. A new #SPARCideas Q&A with a Sudanese researcher explores how people get by through one of the most devastating conflicts: www.sparc-knowledge.org/news-blog/bl... #Sudan @odi.global @ilri.org

👩‍🌾 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

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

🧵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)

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

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

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

⏯️☕️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

⏯️☕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

👁️‍🗨️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