Resilience and the role of equids in humanitarian crises
Cara Clancy, Tamlin Watson, Zoe Raw
Abstract
In times of crisis, working equids can play a pivotal role in supporting vulnerable people in lower middle income countries. However, their contributions are rarely acknowledged in academic research, media reporting, international policy, and development initiatives. This paper explores the involvement of working equids in humanitarian emergencies, notably those pertaining to conflict, drought, climate change, and natural hazards. It presents 'critical cases', informed by document analysis of policy papers, historical texts, and academic publications. In addition, it includes the findings of semi-structured interviews with key informants, primarily field staff working for frontline services in crisis zones, conducted in mid 2020. The paper develops evidence on the role of working equids in crisis situations-expanding the concept of 'resilience' to include working animals and contributing to recent academic discussions in the fields of disaster and development studies-highlighting their importance for global policy, resilience programming, and disaster risk reduction, including efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.