Livestock-keeping refugee families in Dadaab Camp, Kenya, will have their children’s height and weight measured against those of non-livestock-owning households to determine whether owning animals improves or harms child nutrition. Despite over 110 million displaced people worldwide, humanitarian agencies have largely ignored livestock’s role in refugee camps, focusing instead on immediate life-saving aid. This matters because displacement has become chronic for many families, and livestock may offer a route out of malnutrition—or introduce new risks, such as disease or resource competition. The research fills a gap where no empirical evidence exists on livestock’s nutritional impact in camp settings. If successful, the study will produce evidence-based recommendations for NGOs, the UN, and national policymakers on whether to integrate livestock into humanitarian planning. This could reshape how aid budgets are spent in camps across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, potentially improving the nutrition and livelihoods of millions of displaced people without costing additional lives through misdirected interventions.
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Context In a world where the number of forcibly displaced people is at an all-time high, reaching over 110 million people in 2023, there is a critical need to identify means to keep those people safe and healthy as well as empower them to maintain or return to their livelihoods. Given the increasing trends of global climate disasters and conflict this is likely to only increase in severity and so timely research and action is needed. The majority of refugees in Kenya come from a rural background yet livestock in refugee camps have been little researched, likely owing to a sense of urgency during crises which sees immediate life-saving initiatives prioritised. However, living in displacement has become a chronic situation for many and so investigation of such is overdue. By exploring and quantifying the nutritional impact of livestock-keeping in refugee camps, this project will shine a light on an under-researched area and potential avenue out of malnutrition and displacement. In a sector with no room for failure without costing human lives, and with tightening budgets from donors, it is crucial to optimise humanitarian planning. This is where excellent, rigorous research is needed to empirically demonstrate the potential positive or negative impacts. This aligns with the global and population health areas of scientific remit of the Medical Research Council (MRC). Aims of the research The overarching aim of this research is to investigate the benefits and risks of livestock keeping among refugees in East Africa. It will explore this through achieving five objectives: Evaluate critically the current literature on livestock’s role on refugee health, nutrition, and livelihoods. Measure the difference in child nutritional outcomes between refugee households who own livestock and those who do not. Explore refugee perceptions of livestock ownership in the refugee camp context. Explore the causal relationships between livestock ownership and child nutritional outcomes in a refugee camp context. Formulate evidence-based recommendations for decision-makers and project-staff on livestock in refugee settings. It will achieve these in a novel way through three connected experiments. Firstly, a systematic literature review will be conducted to synthesise existing literature and valuable insights. Secondly, through a cross-sectional, observational study of nutritional outcomes and household characteristics in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya. Lastly, through system dynamics modelling and fuzzy cognitive mapping to explore the wider impacts of livestock ownership in the camp context and causal relationships leading to nutritional outcomes. Potential application and benefits This study will for the first time gain empirical evidence on the nutritional impact of livestock ownership in the refugee camp context and the causal relationships behind this. Through identifying target areas for enhancing refugee child health and improving livelihood opportunities, this research has the potential to positively benefit displaced communities both in the short and long term. The work proposed in this application has the opportunity to impact humanitarian and global health planning across non-governmental organisations, international organisations such as the United Nations, as well as influence national and international policy. While based in Kenya, this study's findings can be applied to many contexts across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle-East. As a result, it has the potential to improve the lives of millions of displaced people who are reliant on livestock for their nutrition, their children's nutrition and for their livelihoods.
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