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This publication forms one of a series of six reports prepared under the ECHO-funded project on ‘Reducing the vulnerability of pastoral communities through policy and practice change in the Horn and East Africa’
. The aim of the project is to raise awareness among planners and policymakers about the full potential of pastoral systems to make a significant contribution to the economies of the region. Each of the six reports presents evidence-based research findings to overcome misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding particular aspects of pastoral livelihoods, and highlights appropriate policy recommendations that favour pastoralist systems. The reports present evidence to help inform thinking in order that policymakers can keep abreast of new opportunities and threats in the rangelands.
The overall message that emerges from this publication series is that pastoralists must be supported not only to maintain the extraordinary resilience inherent in their traditional way of life, but also to adapt and – for some – to create viable alternative livelihoods in and beyond the ASALs. Concerns over population growth, climate change, conflict and declining productivity of the natural resource base present very real challenges for pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. Without significant support, levels of poverty, vulnerability and destitution will rise due to the effects of marginalisation, recurrent drought and floods, conflict and livestock epidemics. Market development can help to realise the economic potential of livestock and livestock products, such that mobile pastoral systems of production and management remain a viable option for some pastoralists. For others, support is needed to allow for the adoption of alternative and diversified livelihood options. The evidence presented by the current series encompasses broad views that relate to the future viability of pastoralism, providing guidance in identifying appropriate practical and policy interventions in the arid and semi-arid lands of the Horn of Africa
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In sub-Saharan Africa mobile pastoralism is predominantly practised in arid and semi-arid lands
. These lands are hot and dry, with low and erratic rainfall. There are not many livelihoods suited to this unpredictable environment, but pastoralism is particularly appropriate, because it enables people to adapt by moving livestock according to the shifting availability of water and pasture.
Pastoralism makes a significant contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in many East African countries (around ten per cent in Kenya); it provides the majority of meat consumed in those countries; and provides a livelihood for tens of millions of people who live there. Pastoralists are the custodians of dryland environments, providing services through good rangeland management including biodiversity conservation, and wildlife tourism.
Despite providing such value, pastoralist areas in East African countries tend to have the highest incidence of poverty and the least access to basic services compared with other areas. In the pastoralist areas in northern Uganda, 64 per cent of the population live below the poverty line, compared with 38 per cent nationally
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Nepal is one of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) countries
. It is an undeniable fact that Nepal?s rangeland is featured by altitudinal difficulties, inaccessibility and poor summer growth accompanied by high stocking rate. Thus, interventions are necessary to raise the productivity of rangelands thereby supporting the increased numbers of livestock in these areas. Strategies to increase productivity are directly related to the livelihoods of mountain people, where livelihoods rely on livestock farming with grazing forming a cheaply available natural resource. Keeping in mind such facts, a review of development models adapted in the HKH region regarding rangeland development has been focused on in this paper which may add benefit in the formulation of new strategies in line with raising mountain livelihoods
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Range/pasture is one of the natural resources where the livelihood of the mountain peoples relies on, whose main occupation is livestock farming
. However, this cheaply available resource is depleting annually and thereby sustainability of the rangelands has been questioned. The situation is further worsened by other factors such as continuous grazing, high stocking rate, climatic uncertainty and so on. On the other hand, livestock population is increasing in alarming rate per year. The imbalance of the resource use and livestock demand will not only produce the ecological problems but ultimately will be the greater threats to the sustainability of mountain livelihood. In this paper, various modalities of rangeland management within the Hindu Kush Himalayan region has been review with relevance to the range/ pasture and livestock production in high lands of Nepal
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Mongolia is a sparsely populated country with over 80 percent of its land used by pastoralists for extensive livestock grazing
. Mongolia’s wildlife and pastoralists have faced dramatic challenges with the recent rapid socioeconomic changes. Livestock numbers increased dramatically in the 1990s following the transition from communism to democracy and capitalism. Yet, limited industrialization and cultivation and relatively low rates of natural resources exploitation leave geographically large areas of the nation with few adverse impacts. In addition, the nation’s heritage is strongly conservation oriented. As a result, Mongolia’s protected areas system has been growing rapidly and its grasslands support the largest populations of several globally important species. Alternatively, several challenges exist, including growing pressure to exploit the nation’s vast mineral reserves, the potential for conflict between pastoralist and conservation objectives, and insufficient conservation capacity to manage and protect natural resources. Arguably, a unique opportunity exists in Mongolia to develop economically while maintaining healthy and productive grasslands that support large populations of native flora and fauna. We suggest that doing so will require strengthening protected areas management; increasing ecotourism; instituting socially acceptable grazing reform; beginning to manage wildlife throughout the entire nation; and finding ways to integrate solutions for both sustainable pastoralism and conservation while minimizing unproductive conflict
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By combining research on individual forage plants and plant communities, significant information about the changing condition of rangelands under specific management practices can be produced; this has rarely been done to date
. On the one hand, studies on individual plants provide rather mechanistic, isolated insights, making it impossible to identify interactions and the properties of plant communities relevant for adequate vegetation management. On the other hand, plant community analysis alone only reveals shifts in the composition of species and biomass, but does not explain cause-and-effect relationships related to the impact of grazing at species level. The combined and participatory approach suggested in this paper describes how a more tangible, quantifiable relationship can be established between individual plant and community level processes. Such an approach, which involves herders in expert assessment and data collection, enables better monitoring and forecasting of those changes in plant community composition that are relevant for livestock husbandry and sustainable resource use. In this study, the highest dry matter production (DMP) was recorded at altitudes between 1200 m (with 1945 kg/ha) and 1600 m (with 1921 kg/ha). In “freely grazed rangeland”—where access is not limited and no manual improvement measures are taken—the proportion of palatable forage species is much lower than in “fenced rangeland,” where access is limited and the stocking rate reduced to one third. Such integrated assessment of rangeland conditions ultimately provides the baseline for evaluating changes in ecosystems over time; it also provides a sound basis for negotiation among stakeholders with different interests
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