Changes in the drylands of eastern Africa: technical note on the evidence synthesis and data mapping

This note describes the methods used to create data catalogues, along with analysis of findings and recommendations

From:
Department for International Development
Published
1 January 2016
Country:
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda
Document Type:
Technical Report
Theme:
Agriculture, Climate and Environment
Authors:
Sabates-Wheeler, R., Lind, J., Kohnstamm, S.

Abstract

Until now, very few research studies have holistically examined livelihoods and resilience in the drylands of eastern Africa. By reviewing evidence and data from across this geographic patchwork of countries, a framework has been developed with the potential to pull together evidence from various disciplines and considerably enhance understanding of the dynamic pathways of change in East Africa.

This Technical Note and associated Excel data catalogues represent part of a larger piece of DFID-funded research, which had 3 main objectives:

  1. to synthesise all relevant literature on poverty, vulnerability, livelihoods and change in the arid and semi-arid lands (or ‘drylands’) of East Africa;

  2. to map national and sub-national datasets on poverty, vulnerability, livelihoods and resilience drawing on the work of others; and

  3. to identify priority, long-term evidence gaps, and make recommendations on research and data collection approaches and methodologies by drawing on existing literature.

Specialists interviewed key informants with expertise in pastoralist systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and South Sudan. The evidence and data that they gathered were central to compiling the essential ‘grey literature’ required for evidence synthesis and evaluating the quality of datasets in a data mapping of the pastoralist systems. More than 400 documents were retrieved and reviewed to inform the literature synthesis and we mapped more than 100 datasets according to their research details and survey data collection. This note describes the methods used to create two associated data catalogues, along with some analysis of our findings and recommendations for future evidence and data collection processes in the drylands.

Citation

Lind, J.; Sabates-Wheeler, R.; Kohnstamm, S. Changes in the drylands of eastern Africa: technical note on the evidence synthesis and data mapping. IDS, Brighton, UK (2016) 30 pp.

Published 1 January 2016
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