Abstract:
Abstract: Recurrent shocks and stresses are increasingly deteriorating pastoralist communities’
resilience capacities in many aspects. A context specific resilience framework is essential to strengthen
pastoralist community’s resilience capacity towards the impact of recurrent drought. Hence, the
present study was aimed to develop a context specific and data driven resilience building framework
towards impacts of recurrent droughts in the case of Borana pastoralists in Ethiopia. Qualitative
grounded theory approach was employed to guide the study process. The data were collected
through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews in two drought affected districts of Borana
Zone during October 2013. The analysis was assisted by ATLAS. ti 7.1.4. The analysis provided a
context specific resilience building conceptual tool, which consists of, closely interconnected, eight
dimensions operating at multiple capacities and levels: environment (underlying vulnerability factor);
livestock, infrastructures/social services, and wealth (immediate causes and effects); community
network/social capital, as well as governance, peace and security (support and enabling factors
oriented), psychosocial, and human capital (as eventual outcomes and impacts). The resilience
capacities of these pastoralist communities have been eroded, leaving them without sufficient and
effective adaptive strategies. The emergent resilience framework can serve as a useful guidance to
design context-specific interventions that makes the people and the system resilient to the impacts of
recurrent droughts.
