Inception Workshop for the Regional Geospatial Assessment of Livestock Vulnerability in Eastern Africa

A regional stakeholder workshop, held on 19 November 2025 at ILRI Addis Ababa, convened experts to collaboratively assess livestock vulnerability in East Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania) and to inform the development of a geospatial vulnerability assessment framework. Comprising 22 representatives from governmental, academic, and development organizations, participants analysed interactive impacts of climate and non-climate stressors on regional livestock systems and associated livelihoods across the region.
Discussions highlighted increasing exposure to hydro-meteorological hazards (droughts, heatwaves, floods), disease prevalence, and market volatility, compounded by systemic deficiencies - resource scarcity (water, forage), market inefficiencies, social exclusion, and institutional fragilities. Employing an exposure-sensitivity, adaptive capacity (ESAC) framework, participants systematically prioritized risks across production, ecological, economic and socio-cultural domains, emphasizing their interdependencies.
Group assessments revealed distinct vulnerability typologies across livestock systems. Pastoral and agro-pastoral systems exhibited high sensitivity to prolonged drought and water scarcity. Conversely smallholder dairy systems, despite increased exposure to thermal stress and market perturbations, demonstrated enhanced adaptive capacity due to superior economic viability and policy support. Mixed crop–livestock systems presented moderate vulnerability across multiple perturbation types.
Participants evaluated data availability for vulnerability assessment, identifying dataset fragmentation, disparate access protocols and heterogenous spatial/temporal scales and acquisition cost across institutions and countries. Despite these challenges, there was strong interest in collaboration and data sharing to support a harmonized, regional geospatial assessment.
The workshop concluded with consensus on strategic priorities- enhancing data interoperability, refining social and adaptive capacity indicators, strengthening institutional coordination, and deploying geospatial tools to inform targeted, scalable resilience interventions for livestock systems in Eastern Africa.