Articles

Livestock population dynamics and pastoral communities’ adaptation to rainfall variability in communal lands of Kgalagadi South, Botswana

Rainfall variability is a problem in arid environments, and in this study, drought severity, impact of rainfall variability on livestock population and adaptation practices were investigated in Kgalagadi, Bots...

Authors: Olaotswe E Kgosikoma and Nnyaladzi Batisani

Pastoral livelihoods of the Fulani on the Jos Plateau of Nigeria

The Jos Plateau is an important cattle-producing area in Nigeria, with a high concentration of pastoral Fulani. In recent decades, pastoralist studies have focused on arid and semi-arid areas, with few based i...

Authors: Ayodele O Majekodunmi, Akinyemi Fajinmi, Charles Dongkum, Alexandra P M Shaw and Susan C Welburn

Control of bush encroachment in Borana zone of southern Ethiopia: effects of different control techniques on rangeland vegetation and tick populations

A study on effects of bush encroachment control techniques on rangeland productivity and tick population dynamics was conducted in Arero district of Borana zone, southern Ethiopia, for three consecutive years....

Authors: Bikila Negasa, Bedasa Eba, Samuel Tuffa, Barecha Bayissa, Jaldesa Doyo and Nizam Husen

Mapping of pastoral corridors: practices and politics in eastern Senegal

The delineation and protection of transhumance corridors are increasingly seen as critical to maintaining livestock mobility in agropastoral areas of West Africa by allowing passage through areas of increasing...

Authors: Erin Kitchell, Matthew D Turner and John G McPeak

Pastoralism in Soqotra: external entanglements and communal mutations

This article presents the first study of pastoralism on Soqotra Island, which is the main island of the Republic of Yemen's Soqotra Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Its inhabitants constitute a once predominan...

Authors: Serge D Elie

Soqotra's pastoral economy: from core to auxiliary livelihood

This article describes the current functioning of the pastoral economy of Soqotra Island, a sub-national entity of the Republic of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, located in the Indian Ocean at the entrance of...

Authors: Serge D Elie

Identifying motivators for state-pastoralist dialogue: Exploring the relationships between livestock services, self-organisation and conflict in Nigeria's pastoralist Fulani

Historical tensions between Nigeria's pastoralist Fulani and settled indigenous farmers have intensified in recent years, with dwindling natural resources and land availability greatly contributing to the ongo...

Authors: Anna L Okello, Ayodele O Majekodunmi, Adamu Malala, Susan C Welburn and James Smith

Book review: Savannas of Our Birth: People, Wildlife, and Change in East Africa

Reid, RS

Authors: Eric J Lovell and Mara J Goldman

Camel rearing replacing cattle production among the Borana community in Isiolo County of Northern Kenya, as climate variability bites

This study took place in Isiolo County of semi-arid northern Kenya among Borana pastoralists. Current scientific evidence indicates that climate variability is threatening reliance on cattle. This study aimed ...

Authors: Anastasia W Kagunyu and Joseph Wanjohi

Measuring household vulnerability to climate-induced stresses in pastoral rangelands of Kenya: Implications for resilience programming

This study uses statistical and econometric tools to measure households’ vulnerability in pastoral rangelands of Kenya. It considered 27 socio-economic and biophysical indicators obtained from 302 households’ ...

Authors: Francis EO Opiyo, Oliver V Wasonga and Moses M Nyangito

Review of Towards Sustainable Use of Rangelands in North-West China

Squires, V, Hua, L, Zhang, D and Li, G (eds.)

Authors: Tracy V Hruska

‘It is better to herd than be herded’: making a living with goats in the Bajío region, Mexico

Goats are renowned for their resilience in harsh environments and their relatively low investment for maintenance. Goat husbandry is thought to be a tool for poverty alleviation. Empirical evidence of this is ...

Authors: David Oseguera Montiel, Nícola Maria Keilbach Baer, Akke van der Zijpp, Chizu Sato and Henk Udo

The material and cultural recovery of camels and camel husbandry among Sahrawi refugees of Western Sahara

For nearly 1,500 years, Sahrawi nomads of Western Sahara respected the camel; camels were essential to life in the desert environment, constituting both the main means of production and exchange and the keysto...

Authors: Gabriele Volpato and Patricia Howard

Review of Black Ranching Frontiers: African Cattle Herders of the Atlantic World, 1500-1900 by Andrew Sluyter

Andrew Sluyter

Authors: Nathan F Sayre

Spatio-temporal dynamics of forage and land cover changes in Karamoja sub-region, Uganda

Spatio-temporal dynamics of pastoral grazing resources influences the pastoral production system. Obtaining timely and reliable information on the status of these resources will support planning and early resp...

Authors: Anthony Egeru, Oliver Wasonga, Joseph Kyagulanyi, GJ Mwanjalolo Majaliwa, Laban MacOpiyo and John Mburu

Carbon stocks in semi-arid pastoral ecosystems of northern Kenya

Data on carbon stocks in pastoral ecosystems is important for assessing their contribution for offsetting emissions of greenhouse gases through carbon storage. Such data also provides baseline information to d...

Authors: Bulle Hallo Dabasso, Zerihun Taddese and Dana Hoag

După coada oilor: long-distance transhumance and its survival in Romania

Long-distance transhumance still exists in Romania, but is becoming increasingly rare. This article gives some of the reasons why the phenomenon arose, why it has survived for so long and what are the main thr...

Authors: Caroline Juler

How do pastoral families combine livestock herds with other livelihood security means to survive? The case of the Ferlo area in Senegal

Reducing vulnerability to hazards is a major challenge for pastoral settlements in the dry lands of sub-Saharan Africa. Accumulation of a stock of living animals is a major means of livelihood security that pa...

Authors: Claire Manoli, Véronique Ancey, Christian Corniaux, Alexandre Ickowicz, Benoit Dedieu and Charles Henri Moulin

Review of Wadi Sura–The Cave of Beasts edited by Rudolph Kuper

Kuper, R (ed.)

Authors: Robin Bendrey

Questioning key conclusions of FAO publications ‘Livestock's Long Shadow’ (2006) appearing again in ‘Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock’ (2013)

The accusation by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that domestic animals contribute 18% (Livestock's Long Shadow) or 14.5% (Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock), respectively, t...

Authors: Albrecht Glatzle

A note on transhumant pastoralism in Niti valley, Western Himalaya, India

Pastoralism plays an important role in the ecology of alpine habitats and the economy of rural people in some regions of India. The pastoralists move from lower altitudes of the Himalayas to higher alpine regi...

Authors: Monideepa Mitra, Amit Kumar, Bhupendra S Adhikari and Gopal S Rawat

Assessment of camel and camel milk marketing practices in an emerging peri-urban production system in Isiolo County, Kenya

Pastoral camel management practices in Kenya, characterised by free herd mobility that enables efficient utilisation of rangeland resources, is progressively restricted to foraging within the vicinity of urban...

Authors: Issack Mohamed Noor, Abdi Yakub Guliye, Muhammad Tariq and Bockline Omedo Bebe

Sacred rituals and popular religiousness amongst transhumant shepherds of Teruel region, Spain

Seasonal migration of livestock, ascending and descending movements of livestock to escape from the rigours of winter, meant that shepherds from the region of Teruel in Spain used to spend more than six months...

Authors: Pablo Vidal-González

Review of Who Owns the Stock? Collective and Multiple Property Rights in Animals edited by Anatoly M. Khazanov and Günther Schlee

342 pages, 8 maps, 19 tables, 66 figures, bibliography, index, ISBN 978-0-85745-335-8 Hb, $95.00/£60.00, eISBN 978-0-85745-336-5

Authors: Richard Tapper

Review of “Economic Spaces of Pastoral Production and Commodity Systems: Markets and Livelihoods” edited by Jorg Gertel and Richard Le Heron

Gertel, Jorg and Le Heron, Richard (eds). Economic Spaces of Pastoral Production and Commodity Systems: Markets and Livelihoods. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited; 2011. 345 pages, ISBN 978-1-4094-2531-1 (hardb...

Authors: Caroline Upton

Rangeland governance in an open system: Protecting transhumance corridors in the Far North Province of Cameroon

The mobile pastoral system in the far north region of Cameroon is an excellent example of the paradox of pastoral land tenure, in that pastoralists need secure access to pasture and water, but also flexibility...

Authors: Mark Moritz, Bebisse Larisa Catherine, Albert K Drent, Saïdou Kari, Arabi Mouhaman and Paul Scholte

Monitoring changes in pastoral resources in eastern Sudan: A synthesis of remote sensing and local knowledge

The pastoral resources in eastern Sudan are changing under the combined impact of increasing anthropogenic activities such as clearance of natural vegetation and the effect of state policies that favour crop f...

Authors: Hussein M Sulieman and Abdel Ghaffar M Ahmed

Camel hides: Production, marketing and utilization in pastoral regions of northern Kenya

Camel hides are important sources of foreign exchange earnings for Kenya and other African countries. However, it has been observed that the full potential of camel hides has not been realized nor exploited in...

Authors: Anastasia W Kagunyu, Francis Matiri and Ellias Ngari

Evaluation of losses of replacement heifers in pastoral and peri-urban camel herds in semi-arid northern Kenya

This study estimated heifer losses and associated determinants in peri-urban camel herds characterized by market orientation and domination of lactating camels grazing closer to urban market outlets for milk. ...

Authors: Mumina G Shibia, George Owuor and Bockline O Bebe

Establishing an operational waterhole monitoring system using satellite data and hydrologic modelling: Application in the pastoral regions of East Africa

Timely information on the availability of water and forage is important for the sustainable development of pastoral regions. The lack of such information increases the dependence of pastoral communities on per...

Authors: Gabriel B Senay, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Henok Alemu, Shahriar Md Pervez, Kwabena O Asante, Gatarwa Kariuki, Asefa Taa and Jay Angerer

No longer tracking greenery in high altitudes: Pastoral practices of Rupshu nomads and their implications for biodiversity conservation

Nomadic pastoralism has thrived in Asia’s rangelands for several millennia by tracking seasonal changes in forage productivity and coping with a harsh climate. This pastoralist lifestyle, however, has come und...

Authors: Navinder J Singh, Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Nicolas Lecomte, Joseph L Fox and Nigel G Yoccoz

Nenets migration in the landscape: impacts of industrial development in Yamal peninsula, Russia

Worldwide, traditional pastoralists are facing challenges of industrial development and competitive land use interfering with their nomadic lives. The Yamal peninsula in western Siberia, a homeland of nomadic ...

Authors: Anna Degteva and Christian Nellemann

Review of Modern Pastoralism and Conservation: Old Problems, New Challenges edited by Troy Sternberg and Dawn Chatty

Modern Pastoralism and Conservation: Old Problems, New Challenges. Cambridge: White Horse Press, 2013. Xii + 210 pages, ISBN 978-1-874267-74-4

Authors: Katherine Homewood

Review of “Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins” edited by Andy Catley, Jeremy Lind, and Ian Scoones

Catley, A, Lind J, and Scoones I, eds. 2013. Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins. London: Routledge and Earthscan. Pp. 295. ISBN-13: 978-0-415-54071-1 (hardcover), ISBN-13: 978...

Authors: Mark Moritz

Caught in a sandstorm: an assessment of pressures on communal pastoral livelihoods in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana

Despite their importance to rural livelihoods, the economic and environmental sustainability of contemporary communal pastoral systems of the Kalahari is increasingly being put under scrutiny. Using data colle...

Authors: Diphetogo Mosalagae and Kabo Mogotsi

‘Gaafa dhaabaa - the period of stop’: Narrating impacts of shifta insurgency on pastoral economy in northern Kenya, c. 1963 to 2007

In northern Kenya, there have been limited discussions on the impacts of the 1960 to 1968 insurgency wars and subsequent banditry on the long-term impacts of the pastoral economy. This is despite the societies...

Authors: Zeinabu Kabale Khalif and Gufu Oba

Impacts of foot-and-mouth disease on livelihoods in the Borena Plateau of Ethiopia

This study was conducted to estimate impacts of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on producers' livelihoods in Borena zone, southern Ethiopia, using participatory appraisal methods and secondary data sources. Lives...

Authors: Tariku Jibat, Berhanu Admassu, Tesfaye Rufael, Maximilian PO Baumann and Carsten J Pötzsch

Transhumant agro-pastoralism in Bhutan: Exploring contemporary practices and socio-cultural traditions

This paper presents research findings on the contemporary practices and socio-cultural traditions of transhumant agro-pastoralism (TAP) in Bhutan. Despite the widespread practice of TAP in Bhutan, there has be...

Authors: Kuenga Namgay, Joanne Millar, Rosemary Black and Tashi Samdup

Nomadic pastoralism in southern Iran

The nomadic pastoralist system in Baft district in Kerman province is well known in Iran for producing cashmere from Raeini goats. However, there is little information on the production system. Interviews were...

Authors: Hamid R Ansari-Renani, Barbara Rischkowsky, Joaquin P Mueller, Seyed M Seyed Momen and Sepehr Moradi

People to people diplomacy in a pastoral system: A case from Sudan and South Sudan

Bahr Alarab river, a tributary from the White Nile, forms a natural as well as the political boundary between the two states - Sudan (north) and South Sudan (south) - of the river system. It also represents th...

Authors: Ali Jammaa Abdalla

Perramond, EP: Political Ecologies of Cattle Ranching in Northern Mexico: Private Revolutions

Authors: María E Fernández-Giménez

Harris, DR: Origins of Agriculture in Western Central Asia: An Environmental-Archaeological Study

Porter, A: Mobile Pastoralism and the Formation of Near Eastern Civilizations: Weaving Together Society

Authors: Robin Bendrey

What to do with chronically sick animals? Pastoralists’ management strategies in the far north region of Cameroon

While the goal of African pastoralists is health and longevity of herd and household, some of their management strategies appear to counter this long-term goal. Pastoralists in the far north region of Cameroon...

Authors: Jessica M Healy Profitós, Mark Moritz and Rebecca B Garabed

The tragedy of responsibility in high Asia: modernizing traditional pastoral practices and preserving modernist worldviews

The nomadism/pastoralism debate has always been closely connected to discourses about modernization theories whenever development issues were at stake. While the mainstream debates have changed since stage mod...

Authors: Hermann Kreutzmann

Schaller, George, B.: Tibet Wild: A Naturalist’s Journeys on the Roof of the World.

Authors: Daniel Miller

The effect of rapid social changes during post-communist transition on perceptions of the human - wolf relationships in Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan

The relationship between humans and wolves is often associated with conflicts strongly linked with livestock breeding activities. However, as conflicts are often more intense than expected considering the magn...

Authors: Nicolas Lescureux and D John C Linnell

Review of pastoral practices in High Asia, edited by Hermann Kreutzmann. (Springer Series: Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research)

Kreutzmann, H (editor)

Authors: Sarah Robinson

Review of Eurasian Steppes. Ecological problems and livelihoods in a changing world, edited by Marinus JA Werger and Marja A van Staalduinen (Springer series: Plant and Vegetation No. 6)

Werger, Marinus JA; and van Staalduinen, Marja A (editors)

Authors: Sarah Robinson

Review of Restoring Community Connections to the Land: Building Resilience Through Community-based Rangeland Management in China and Mongolia edited by Maria E. Fernández-Giménez, Xiaoyi Wang, B. Batkhishig, Julia A. Klein and Robin S. Reid

Fernández-Giménez, ME; Wang, X; Batkhishig, B; Klein, JA; and Reid, RS

Authors: Wenjun Li

Review of Being Maasai, Becoming Indigenous: postcolonial politics in a neoliberal world by Dorothy Hodgson

Hodgson, Dorothy Being Maasai, Becoming Indigenous: postcolonial politics in a neoliberal world. Bloomington: Indiana University Press; 2011. 288 pages, ISBN-13: 978–0253223050

Authors: Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox