Twenty-nine young pastoralists from across Africa, Asia, and EMENA have come together as part of the ILC Inter-regional School for Young Pastoralists 2026—a unique learning journey grounded in lived experience, leadership, and collective action.
Bringing together community organisers, herders, researchers, lawyers, and advocates, the cohort reflects the diversity and strength of pastoralist communities worldwide. United by shared priorities—including land rights, climate justice, Indigenous knowledge, and the voices of women and youth—they are building a collective vision for the future of pastoralism.
Over the course of this 8-month programme, participants will exchange knowledge, strengthen cross-regional alliances, and contribute to a youth-led declaration on pastoralism, while amplifying the realities and solutions emerging from their territories.
A key milestone will take place this July in Kyrgyzstan, where the cohort will meet in person for a week of immersive learning, dialogue, and storytelling — and where their collective voice will take shape.
They are coming from the rangelands of Somalia, the mountains of Bhutan, the Sahel, the highlands of Spain, the grasslands of Tanzania, the steppes of Kyrgyzstan — and many more places besides. Each of them brings the knowledge, the experience, and the vision of their communities.
The causes that unite them
Pastoralism is a living system of knowledge, governance, and resilience. Yet the communities that practise it continue to face some of the world's most pressing and overlooked challenges. These are the causes this cohort is fighting for.
Legal Invisibility: Mapping the rights that were always theirs
Millions of pastoralists are excluded from systems that were never designed to include them — without documentation, without legal recognition, and without a seat at the table where decisions about their land and livelihoods are made. These young leaders are dismantling that exclusion:
Some of those fighting for this: Diallo Issoufou (Togo) · Abdoul Rahamani Seidou Soumay (Niger) · Mohammed Najeemudeen Ahamath Nuzaik (Sri Lanka) · Rushikesh Kalokar (India)
Land Rights: The land that feeds the world deserves protection
Pastoralist communities have managed and sustained their territories for generations — developing sophisticated systems of seasonal mobility, collective stewardship, and ecological knowledge. Yet their rights to that land remain contested, ignored, or erased by policies that fail to recognise their way of life. These young leaders are here to reclaim what was always theirs.
Some of those fighting for this: Abubakar Bimbi Tahir (Nigeria) · Ali Fagouri (Morocco)
Climate & Resilience: While the world looks for climate solutions, pastoralists have been living them
Pastoralist communities have always adapted to environmental change — moving with the seasons, reading the land, and managing resources with a precision that no algorithm can replicate. Today, as the climate crisis deepens, that knowledge is more urgent than ever. These young leaders are ensuring it reaches the global conversations where it is needed most.
Some of those fighting for this: Mohamed Ali Jama (Somalia) · Melau Makko (Tanzania) · Isabeau Ottolini (Spain)
Indigenous Leadership: Centuries of knowledge getting the recognition it deserves
Indigenous pastoralist communities have developed, over generations, an intimate understanding of their territories — how to read the land, care for their animals, and sustain ecosystems. That knowledge has too often been dismissed or ignored. These young leaders are changing that, ensuring it is preserved, shared, and placed at the centre of the decisions that affect their communities.
Some of those fighting for this: Gladys Kiplagat (Kenya) · Huseni Hodi Sidiki (Cameroon) · Issack Lemorogo (Kenya)
Women & Youth: The future of pastoralism is female — and it's young
No future for pastoralism can be built without the voices, knowledge, and leadership of women and young people. They are not the next generation of this movement; they are its present. These young leaders are already shaping what comes next, from their territories to the global stage.
Some of those fighting for this: Assahadat Wellet Mossa (Burkina Faso) · Adam Roukiatou (Benin) · Khadidiatou Dia (Senegal) · Kamiji Malasha (Zambia) · Abdo Abahaba (Ethiopia)
Identity & Heritage: Keeping traditions alive is an act of resistance
In a world that too often equates progress with abandonment, these young leaders make a different choice. They carry their traditions forward as a living, breathing foundation for what pastoralism can become. Because the answers the future is looking for have been here all along.
Some of those fighting for this: Ahmad Saad Al-Huweitat (Jordan) · Shazia Kosser Gujjar (India)
At the heart of this programme is a collective commitment: together, the cohort will draft a Youth Declaration on Pastoralism, a shared statement of demands, visions, and solutions that will be presented to decision-makers at national and global levels, including at COP17 in August 2026.
Follow their journey — over the coming months, you will be hearing directly from them: their stories, their territories, and what they are building together.
