Climate change turns heat on Africa's pastoralists [The Morning Call]

This week the United Nations held its climate summit in New York. For many people, climate change is about shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels, heatwaves, and other extreme weather patterns.

But for pastoralists—livestock farmers in the semi-arid lands of Africa—climate change has forced drastic changes to everyday life. They have had to endure longer journeys to find water and pasture and in some areas, disease epidemics have increased.

From the Sahel to the dry lands of eastern Africa, climate change has severely tested the resilience of pastoralists. Many have been forced to abandon herding or cut the number of livestock, exposing themselves to poverty and food insecurity.

According to the UN, 268 million people depend on pastoralism as a source of livelihood.