Since 2018, SOAS anthropologists have partnered with Mursi agro-pastoralists in Ethiopia’s South Omo Zone through a series of community-led research projects, Mursi Encountering Others (MEO) and Agro-Pastoralists Educate Others (APEO), distributing over 50 small grants to local researchers across marginalised ethnic groups. This IAA grant takes those research findings into an advocacy phase: supporting up to 12 South Omo researchers to present their work to policymakers, officials, and NGOs, producing a policy brief and illustrated booklet, and funding participation in Ethiopian Pastoralist Day and the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism (2026).

Applicant: Dr Richard Axelby, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, SOAS

Grant type: IAA Strategic Grant

Partner: Pastoralist Forum Ethiopia (PFE)

Location: South Omo Zone, Ethiopia

Timeframe: 2025–2026