Despite all the efforts of development agencies, pastoral communities in Africa are no less vulnerable to drought, famine and environmental degradation than they were during the 1950s. Agencies working with pastoralists have concentrated on technical programmes to combat the threats but Julian Prior argues that their initiatives would be more sustainable if they were supported by social development which strengthened the institutional capacity of pastoral communities. Improved technologies should make a positive contribution to the security of pastoral peoples: food security, political security and the security of rights to land and water. Community development workers, for whom this book is written, have a major role to play in this process.