Since 2007 COOPI has been committed in supporting pastoral communities in the region stretching from northern Kenya to southern Ethiopia. In this drought prone area, COOPI intervenes to help pastoral communities improving their efficiency in natural resources use, primarily water, in order to enhance their preparedness to crises. COOPI adopts a cross border approach aiming at supporting and strengthening an entire region, basing on livelihood systems and resources the local communities depend on. While choosing this approach, COOPI also acknowledges traditional systems as an important element of integration with the local context that needs strengthening and enhancing for the development of pastoral communities. In order to support semi nomadic livestock, identified as an important strategy in response to drought, COOPI intervenes in the creation and rehabilitation of water points along the traditional routes of transhumance.

In this sense, of great interest is the mapping of water sources and grazing areas which permits to properly manage these resources as well as to mediate conflicts that may arise in their access and use by different clans and local communities.

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