This paper describes how the changing situation in semi-arid Africa is resulting in unprecedented pressures on pastoralists. Factors, including the establishment of national frontiers, the expansion of cultivation and increasing livestock numbers, have forced pastoralists into cycles of impoverishment. Progress has been made with drought early warning systems, but drought should not be thought of as a one-off climatic anomaly; policy is needed which is based on a long-term understanding of climatic patterns and changes in human settlement.