Exploring the feasibility of implementing the P-PD approach in pastoral areas: Assessment in the Somali region of Ethiopia

Positive deviance refers to individuals or groups of livestock keepers achieving better outcomes than their peers with similar resources in livestock management in terms of securing livelihoods and overcoming the impact of climate change. Positive deviance is a well-researched field of study emerging from public health research, originally in SE Asia (Zeitlin 1991, Marsh, Schroeder et al. 2004, Lapping, Marsh et al. 2016).

The Pioneer Positive Deviance (P-PD) approach has been developed by a team at ILRI in the Programme for Climate Smart Livestock (PCSL) and the Livestock and Climate Initiative (Habermann, Crane et al. 2021, Habermann, Crane et al. 2021, Habermann, Crane et al. 2022, Habermann, Crane et al. 2022, Habermann, Gichuki et al. 2024) . It identifies and characterizes farmer-led innovations that support livestock keepers in livestock management and adaptation to climate change (Habermann, Crane et al. 2022). The approach has been tested mainly in mixed-crop livestock systems in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. In Ethiopia preliminary scoping in pastoral systems was done in Afar Region in 2019 to 2021.