Redressing Policy Making in Pastoral Areas of the Mediterranean Region

This article provides a critical analysis of the evolution of the policy, institutional and legislative frameworks impinging on the livelihoods of pastoral communities in the different flanks of the Mediterranean, and of the underpinning narratives, with a view to support a better informed and more consistent policy framework. The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union is paramount in defining evolving and shrinking pastoralists’ room for manoeuvre, not only in Europe but also in its neighbouring regions. In Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, despite a quite un-harmonised and diversified ideological and institutional setting, agricultural policies in the different countries seem to converge to a very similar and consistent framework. Throughout the Mediterranean, the growing compliance with policy measures, institutional regulations and legislative rules have exposed agro-pastoral farms to increasing degrees of uncertainty and dependence on public subsidies, loan schemes and market prices, making their navigation decreasingly sustainable.