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Most studies and conceptualizations of tipping points in environmental and climatic systems have been conducted using natural science perspectives and approaches. Socio-scientific contributions—including Anthropology—are scarce. This has resulted in a limited understanding of the socio-cultural dimensions of tipping point phenomena at the local level. This paper contributes to ongoing discussion and provides an ethnographic study of local perceptions of desertification tipping points (DTPs) amongst Ovaherero pastoralists in Namibia's semi-arid Okakarara constituency. Following a qualitative approach, this study shows that experienced farmers are aware of these phenomena and have accumulated extensive knowledge enabling them to identify and anticipate DTPs in different, complementary ways. The paper discusses how DTPs are managed in a communally farmed setting and presents the challenges that livestock farmers face in practical prevention of DTPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize mineral nutrition (copper, magnesium, selenium, and zinc) in Samburu pastoralist youth, in the context of differential cultural transitions due to uneven changes in educational access, herding intensity, polygyny, and access to wild, domesticated, and market‐sourced foods. Materials and methods: Whole dried blood spots were collected in a total of 161 youth (highlands, n = 97; lowlands, n = 64) to assess concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead, magnesium, mercury, selenium, and zinc. Concentrations were determined through inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Dietary intakes were assessed by 24‐h recall method and calculation of the probability of inadequate intakes. WHO protocols were applied to collect anthropometric measures in the youth. Results: Nearly half of the adolescents (47.8%) fell below the reference range for zinc status, and 88.2% had low zinc‐to‐copper ratios. High probability of nutrient inadequacies was evident for protein, fat, vitamins A, B12, C, and E. In generalized linear modeling, lowland residence was negatively associated with zinc status and the zinc‐to‐copper ratio, and positively correlated with selenium and copper status. Other significant correlates were dairy livestock ownership; wife number of the youth's mother; meat consumption; vegetable consumption; protein intake; infectious disease morbidities; BMI; and hemoglobin concentrations. Discussion: In recent decades, Samburu pastoralists of northern Kenya have experienced marked dietary changes in the context of market integration, extreme drought, diminishing pasture availability, and violent civil conflict. Some children (particularly boys) successfully supplement their diets by foraging for wild foods, while others (particularly actively herding girls) may be more vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zooarchaeological studies in Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Portugal have witnessed important developments in recent years, even if still largely based on taxonomic analyses. Other approaches depend heavily on the abundance and preservation conditions of faunal collections, which are often inadequate; such limitation prevents in-depth studies of animal exploitation strategies (e.g. the 'Secondary Products Revolution'). Despite these constraints, some trends in animal exploitation systems have been observed (Valente, M. J., and A. F. Carvalho. 2014. "Zooarchaeology in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of Southern Portugal." Environmental Archaeology 19 (3): 226–240). These observations are now complemented by new zooarchaeological studies and case-studies on isotopic analyses for mobility and diet. The new dataset is addressed in the wider context, thus allowing a comprehensive overview, albeit exploratory, on herding practices and animal exploitation systems in Late Prehistory. The following trends are: the introduction of domesticated animals during the Early Neolithic; the non-existence of medium- to large-scale itinerant pastoralism during the Middle Neolithic (though shorter distances itinerancy may have taken place); and different moments for the adoption of secondary animal products (early usage of milk, and perhaps its derivatives, but a later exploitation of other products like wool and draft force). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies and conceptualizations of tipping points in environmental and climatic systems have been conducted using natural science perspectives and approaches. Socio-scientific contributions—including Anthropology—are scarce. This has resulted in a limited understanding of the socio-cultural dimensions of tipping point phenomena at the local level. This paper contributes to ongoing discussion and provides an ethnographic study of local perceptions of desertification tipping points (DTPs) amongst Ovaherero pastoralists in Namibia's semi-arid Okakarara constituency. Following a qualitative approach, this study shows that experienced farmers are aware of these phenomena and have accumulated extensive knowledge enabling them to identify and anticipate DTPs in different, complementary ways. The paper discusses how DTPs are managed in a communally farmed setting and presents the challenges that livestock farmers face in practical prevention of DTPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Nderit Ware," a type of pottery famous in eastern Africa for its remarkably intricate basket-like bowls, is associated with evidence for the region's earliest pastoralism during a time period known as the Pastoral Neolithic (PN, c. 5000-1200 cal BP). This paper reviews the changing ways archaeologists have conceptualized "Nderit" pottery over the past eighty years. The "Nderit" ware type was defined in relation to initial finds in central Kenya, decades before archaeologists discovered Nderit had greater antiquity as a technology/artistic tradition in northwest Kenya's Turkana Basin. Ceramic assemblages from pillar sites surrounding Lake Turkana – including Lothagam North (GeJi9) and Jarigole (GbJj1) – reveal a more variable and complex history of ceramic production and use than previously recognized. Nderit's first known production and use is associated with the region's earliest food producers, mobile pastoralists establishing themselves around a dramatically shrinking Lake Turkana. These findings carry important implications for reconstructing the cultural history and material lives of early herding groups moving within and beyond the Turkana Basin, and expand our frame of reference for understanding the origins of pottery production by mobile, small-scale groups worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today there is a disjuncture between migration flows that are complex, mixed and constantly evolving and the emerging global migration governance paradigm that seeks to impose clarity, certainty, regularity and order. Addressing the gap between policies and realities, this article explores lessons for migration policy and governance from mobile pastoralists' experience. Using examples from human migration flows within and between Europe and Africa and insights from pastoral systems from India, Italy and Kenya, the article identifies important similarities between international migration and pastoral mobility. We focus on four interconnections: both international migration and pastoral mobility show multi-directional and fragmented patterns; both involve multiple, intersecting socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental drivers; both must respond to non-linear systems, where critical junctures and tipping points undermine clear prediction and forecasts, making social navigation and reliability management more useful concepts than risk-based prediction and control and finally for both uncertainty is not conceived of as a state of crisis but an inherent feature, pregnant with possibility and hope. Building on these four points, and drawing from pastoralists' experiences, we propose some methodological, practical and policy reflections for bridging the disjuncture between migration realities on the ground and global migration governance policies and discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural localities, entirely dependent on agropastoral and fisheries production activities, use various techniques to maximize the products and profits offered by the resources of the environment. However, the constraints facing producers lead them to develop survival strategies that determine the maintaining, continuation or even the future of their activities. Thus, herders and fishermen find themselves in competition for the control of the space and resources of this fragile environment. By addressing the question of the future of this cohabitation, this reflection attempts to explore different probable futures, given the physical conditions of the environment, the economic assets and constraints, the relationships between human and non-human actors, as well as the standards governing the various activities. The strategic scenarios built on evolutionary hypotheses are intended either to draw attention to certain issues, or to suggest certain decisions that will help maintain the balance of this interactive fish-pastoral system in this changing area. This forward-looking approach is identified as an asset for thinking and designing a better evolution of human ecological couplings in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Nigeria and Ghana, pastoralists face increasing adversity from climate change and marginalisation due to a complex combination of factors, further amplified by highly sensitive and increasingly violent conflicts with farmers. While climate change exacerbates the vulnerability of pastoralists, this remains largely unaccounted for in current Nigerian and Ghanaian pastoral livestock policy. Employing a thematic analytical approach, the article assesses the representation of pastoralists within climate change adaptation strategies in Ghana and Nigeria, and the impact of this on their livelihoods. Our findings indicate that pastoralists are poorly represented in current policy, which is inclined towards transitions to intensive sedentary systems. This risks enhancing the vulnerability of pastoralists to climate impacts by constraining mobility. We conclude that improved clarity on how these policies account for climate change in transitioning pastoral systems into intensive sedentary systems could encourage compliance and buy-in by pastoralists and farmers. It is recommended that future livestock policies address climate change and bolster producer mobility to better support the livelihoods of pastoralists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ways in which discourses and narratives around pastoralism and climate change have been communicated within policymaking in Ethiopia over an eleven-year period (2007-2017), the interests of different actors shaping these policies and some of the consequences of policy solutions for pastoralist livelihoods. Employing discourse analysis of policy-relevant documents, combined with data drawn from interviews with a cross-section of policy actors, it highlights how new concerns over climate change -- combined with the drive for transformation and modernisation of pastoral areas -- are being used by the state and other powerful actors as tools in contestations over land and other resources. Predominantly technocratic policy prescriptions and investments are, in turn, leading to new patterns of social differentiation and vulnerability for some. The extent and nature of change in Ethiopia's drylands call for political responses that address social inequities and power imbalances, that safeguard pastoralists' resource rights and that allow for more inclusive forms of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compulsory schooling has become a social good that is so much taken for granted that it is hardly criticized anymore. Due to the prevalence of this norm, the paradoxical effects of its global implementation are often overlooked. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Hamar District, southwest Ethiopia, this paper analyses why 'schooling for all' that is supposed to bring development and a better life is violently contested among agro-pastoralists in Hamar. Along with the expansion of 'Western'-style schooling, school-educated youth unemployment is increasing, and the attempt to implement compulsory schooling has created a violent conflict in Hamar District. Following the lives of first-generation schoolchildren from agro-pastoral families, this article shows how schoolchildren become intermediaries between their agro-pastoral kin and the Ethiopian government. Both groups use children and education in struggling over power and change, which creates dilemmas for school-educated youths who are related to both groups and have to navigate these political tensions throughout their life courses. The violent conflict over the implementation of compulsory schooling in Hamar District shows how schooling can turn not only into a metaphorical arena but into a literal battlefield, in which the relations between agropastoralists, the state and (inter)national development are negotiated. Various actors claim competing rights to decide about young people's education and schooling, but young people are also taking their own decisions about their lives. These educational decisions about learning in and outside school shape wider social, political and economic processes. The increasing number of schoolchildren from agro-pastoralist families blurs the boundaries between agro-pastoralists and the central government, making it fruitful to integrate the study of schooling into research on infrastructure and politics in order to understand processes of rural transformations and conflicts. Young people mediate multiple and at times antagonistic visions of future livelihoods and corresponding forms of education, which creates dilemmas and conflicts throughout their life courses that need to be taken into account in developing sustainable ways of education beyond schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eritrea's rural development trajectory has fallen short of fully meeting the basic needs of its peasants and pastoralists, let alone national food security objectives. This article builds on earlier research on rural development projects in a select number of villages. These projects were primarily characterised by a state-centric technocratic logic that did, to some degree, embed "hard" infrastructure in the villages, but which paid less attention to building village-level capacity or organisational autonomy. Looking beyond these impasses, the present article suggests an inward-oriented national development model centred on the home market, rural co-operatives, and food sovereignty. As yet - at the time of writing - another major war afflicts Eritrea and Ethiopia, the presence of the political will for such a transition is by no means guaranteed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sectio F: Historia is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Mundo de Antes is the property of Revista Mundo de Antes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we utilize a nationwide dataset on plot-level rangeland health, which has not been used in previous studies on the economic impact of rangeland degradation in Mongolia. Taking account of typical reverse causality between grass condition and pastoralists' activities, we adopt a 2SLS instrumental variable approach to identify the impact of rangeland degradation on pastoralists' farm performance and welfare. We find that rangeland degradation causes a significant decrease in livestock product sales, farm income, and total paid-out costs. But we do not observe a significant decrease in farm profit and total income of the households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this photo essay, I illustrate ethnographic encounters with dairying practices and dairy microbes in various regions of Mongolia. Drawing on fieldwork conducted during two consecutive summers, this essay focuses on the sociocultural role of microbial starter cultures in producing diverse dairy products (such as fermented mare’s milk) and in cross-generational knowledge transfer. The Mongolian word for starter culture is khöröngö, which also means capital and heritage. In this context, a sociocultural anthropological approach sheds new light on starter cultures as mobile entities of value across space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista del Museo de Antropología is the property of Museo de Antropologia - IDACOR and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Morocco, Extensive animal breeding still seems to be basically a pastoral activity, as several aspects of the shepherd's place in production show. There does not seem to be any decisive rejection of this occupation. Families who send their children to school still assign a son or even a daughter to this task. Stockbreeding is always seen as dependent on the shepherd's skill. So, We can judge this sector's place in a unit of production by the type of person called upon to take care of the herd (children or old people of both sexes, adult men ...) and by the terms of the contracts agreed on with shepherds from outside the family group. There is still a big demand for skilled shepherds particularly in the mountains, where sheeps and goats owners prefer to recruit from areas well-known for their shepherds. Stock-breeding requires an important workforce, only some of whom will be working full-time; preference is therefore given to recruiting shepherds who accept the job with their families or to assigning its occupation to a sub-group of the patriarchal family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hunter-gatherer lifestyles dominated the southern African landscape up to ~ 2000 years ago, when herding and farming groups started to arrive in the area. First, herding and livestock, likely of East African origin, appeared in southern Africa, preceding the arrival of the large-scale Bantu-speaking agro-pastoralist expansion that introduced West African-related genetic ancestry into the area. Present-day Khoekhoe-speaking Namaqua (or Nama in short) pastoralists show high proportions of East African admixture, linking the East African ancestry with Khoekhoe herders. Most other historical Khoekhoe populations have, however, disappeared over the last few centuries and their contribution to the genetic structure of present-day populations is not well understood. In our study, we analyzed genome-wide autosomal and full mitochondrial data from a population who trace their ancestry to the Khoekhoe-speaking Hessequa herders from the southern Cape region of what is now South Africa. Results: We generated genome-wide data from 162 individuals and mitochondrial DNA data of a subset of 87 individuals, sampled in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, where the Hessequa population once lived. Using available comparative data from Khoe-speaking and related groups, we aligned genetic date estimates and admixture proportions to the archaeological proposed dates and routes for the arrival of the East African pastoralists in southern Africa. We identified several Afro-Asiatic-speaking pastoralist groups from Ethiopia and Tanzania who share high affinities with the East African ancestry present in southern Africa. We also found that the East African pastoralist expansion was heavily male-biased, akin to a pastoralist migration previously observed on the genetic level in ancient Europe, by which Pontic-Caspian Steppe pastoralist groups represented by the Yamnaya culture spread across the Eurasian continent during the late Neolithic/Bronze Age. Conclusion: We propose that pastoralism in southern Africa arrived through male-biased migration of an East African Afro-Asiatic-related group(s) who introduced new subsistence and livestock practices to local southern African hunter-gatherers. Our results add to the understanding of historical human migration and mobility in Africa, connected to the spread of food-producing and livestock practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoralists in Western Mongolia face a range of challenges during their annual grazing cycle due to the simultaneous but conflicting needs for secure allocation rules and a high degree of flexibility. In this paper, I analyze the seasonal arrangements and corresponding strategies that households adopt to deal with unpredictable environmental conditions and the demands of supplying livestock with sufficient forage throughout the year. In contrast to game theory simulations, I argue that dilemmas are: a) often not a question of cooperating or not, but form continua of more or less; and b) socially embedded as people operate in a multitude of relationships that influence their decision-making. Therefore, sharing information in a manner that prioritizes the requirements of individual households while not jeopardizing social reputation is crucially important. Rhetorical skills play an important role in this regard, but there are also situations when herders blatantly ignore state law or local institutional arrangements and risk confrontation to ensure the survival of livestock leading to a situation where free-riding may at times become the dominant strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abandonment of agricultural land is widespread in many parts of the world, leading to shrub and tree encroachment. The increase of flammable plant biomass, that is, fuel load, increases the risk and intensity of wildfires. Fuel reduction by herbivores is a promising management strategy to avoid fuel build‐up and mitigate wildfires. However, their effectiveness in mitigating wildfire damage may depend on a range of factors, including herbivore type, population density and feeding patterns.Here, we review the evidence on whether management with herbivores can reduce fuel load and mitigate wildfires, and if so, how to identify suitable management that can achieve fire mitigation objectives while providing other ecosystem services. We systematically reviewed studies that investigated links between herbivores, fire hazard, fire frequency and fire damage.We found that, in general, herbivores reduce fuel load most effectively when they are mixed feeders, when grazing and browsing herbivores are combined and when herbivore food preferences match the local vegetation. In some cases, the combination of herbivory with other management strategies, such as mechanical clearing, is necessary to reduce wildfire damage.Synthesis and Applications. We conclude that herbivores have the capacity to mitigate wildfire damage, and we provide guidance for grazing management for wildfire mitigation strategies. As areas undergoing land abandonment are particularly prone to wildfires, the maintenance or promotion of grazing by domestic or wild herbivores is a promising tool to reduce wildfire risk in a cost‐effective way, while also providing other ecosystem services. Relevant land‐use policies, including fire suppression policies, agricultural and forest(ry) policies could incentivise the use of herbivores for better wildfire prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shares findings from a detailed empirical analysis of seven development projects in Kenya that supported remote pastoral communities facing food insecurity and other difficulties linked to environmental degradation and climate change. The projects sought to address these challenges by trialing various livelihood innovations in partnership with communities. These project activities were assessed using a tailored cost–benefit analysis methodology to identify those offering the best use of scarce funds, thus informing future policy and programing for such areas. This evidence suggests that (a) the difficulties communities face are creating a desperate situation, and (b) some of the innovations trialed hold promise while others are problematic. The evidence presented includes an array of local voices that vividly convey community-level dynamics and prospects. This evidence is set in context using the literatures on human security and its wider impacts, notably migration from the Sahel. This analysis found the circumstances of pastoral communities can significantly impact neighboring regions, with ongoing instability posing a threat while smart interventions that create local opportunities offer more synergistic outcomes. The paper concludes by calling for greater recognition of the options facing such communities and their wider significance as a basis for scaled up support measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conflict that broke out in 1295 between the inhabitants of Plaisance and the Templars of Laramet led to an unusually complex trial and offers an exceptional insight into the use of common lands in Gascony and Languedoc at the end of the 13th century. The theses of the lawyers and the statements of the witnesses show that the villagers could graze their animals on the common wasteland and on the common fields of their village after the harvest. But they also reveal that the inhabitants of a village could send their cattle to the fields, grasslands, moors and woods of neighbouring communities. By comparing witness statements and documentation from neighbouring villages, this article aims to show how these multiple uses were organised and controlled at a time when community organisation was still very unstable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archaeologies is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Bofedales are azonal peat-forming wetlands located in the tropical and subtropical Andes at high altitudes (approximately 3200–5000 m). Motivated by their socio-ecological importance, unique landscape qualities, and increasing vulnerability, scholars have developed a rich research agenda to better understand this ecosystem. We conducted an analysis of the various frameworks used to study bofedales through a systematic review of 119 key academic publications. We observed a range of bofedal naming terminologies, definitions, and descriptions of key threats that sometimes aligned with disciplinary, geographic, or linguistic distinctions between studies. Notably, though the majority of papers employed natural science methods, the social science and multidisciplinary studies were more likely to discuss the role of local communities in helping manage these ecosystems, though many researchers also highlighted the need for further study of these dynamics. This analysis, therefore, demonstrates the need to develop research modalities that are rooted in local contexts and which employ both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate and elucidate the complex human-environment dynamics that characterize these ecosystems. By documenting, we aim to support more robust research collaborations and to inform the development of research and conservation agendas that effectively support these landscapes and the myriad socio-ecological services they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On June 25, 2016, an armed fight broke out between the villages of Mougna and Kossouma (Djenné, Mali), killing about twenty people and wounding about forty. While no “jihadists” were directly involved, this was part of the arming of land disputes which intensified dramatically with the outbreak of the rebellion in 2012. The sudden emergence of violence in rural, pastoral areas is linked to a more general questioning of “bush” institutions within the state formation process. This article aims to analyze the ways in which violence has become public policy, by resorting to the ethnic and religious perspectives, particularly that of “jihadism,” through the prism of land disputes.

This article offers a critical analysis of the institutional narratives on the links between “pastoralism” and “insecurity,” which have become the new core of the debate on pastoralism in West Africa, by questioning the role attributed to the land and the political stakes of this discourse. After having traced the transformation and the publicization of the narratives of aid institutions, the article shows how these narratives cast the understanding of relocation, pastoral land, and rural social structures in a reifying and globalizing light. Based on an analysis of the dynamics at work in Nigeria, it shows how a multidimensional, processual approach to land leads to changing perspectives and to raising the question of citizenship in rural, pastoral areas.

Abstract Today, climate change and competing land use practices are threatening rangelands around the world and the pastoral societies that rely on them. Reindeer husbandry practised by the indigenous Sami people is an example. In Sweden, approximately 70% of the most productive lichen pastures (important in winter) has been lost, either completely or because of a reduction in forage quality, as a result of competing land use (primarily commercial forestry). The remaining pastures are small and fragmented. Yet, the number of reindeer in Sweden shows no general decline. We investigated the strategies that have allowed reindeer herders to sustain their traditional livelihood despite a substantial loss of pastures and thus natural winter forage for their reindeer. Changes in harvest strategy and herd structure may partially explain the observed dynamics, and have increased herd productivity and income, but were not primarily adopted to counteract forage loss. The introduction of supplementary feeding, modern machinery, and equipment has assisted the herders to a certain extent. However, supplementary feeding and technology are expensive. In spite of governmental support and optimized herd productivity and income, increasing costs provide low economic return. We suggest that the increased economical and psychosocial costs caused by forage and pasture losses may have strong effects on the long-term sustainability of reindeer husbandry in Sweden.

From a geocritical standpoint, American gothic literature historically relies on the symbolical space of the wilderness: a labyrinthine parapsychological realm of darkness and irrationality, and a rhetorical inversion of pastoral motives. The traditional sense of place of the American South stems from society’s projected cultural values on the environment and from a strict separation of Garden and Wasteland. This separation was no longer held after agricultural capitalism swept the region in the 1920s and 1930s, changing the landscape forever and bringing about semiotic chaos in what was once an orderly landscape of Jeffersonian descent. With the advent of the post-southern era, as described by Martyn Bone, literature struggled to redefine pastoral and gothic chronotopes in a quest for new geographical grounds in which the fragmented collective identity of the region could be rooted. Through the analysis of contemporary southern works, this essay aims at re-defining pastoral and gothic spaces in post-southern America.

Abstract Pastoral systems are known to be prone to social, political and ecological uncertainties. Traditional ecological knowledge that the pastoral communities hold around their bio-physical environment has been a key to cope with stressors and adapt to the rapid socio-economic changes. We examined traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) on livestock and resource management, factors influencing livestock production and concurrent changes in an agro-pastoral system. We used mixed methods by conducting 44 semi-structured interviews, 10 key informants’ interviews and resource mapping in five villages of Upper Spiti Landscape, western Himalaya. Our specific objectives were to (i) document TEK on livestock diet and management and (ii) understand the drivers and consequences of the change in the agro-pastoral society and associated traditional knowledge system. The herders of the study area possessed extensive knowledge of livestock diet and fodder species preference. They used this knowledge to optimize livestock grazing in pastures during summers and to fulfil the nutrient requirements of livestock species during stall feeding in winters. Seasonally, the aspect, altitude and accessibility of the pasture influenced the rotational use of pastures. In contrast, the quality of forage and water availability, distance of the pasture from village and threats from predators influenced the selection of grazing areas daily. There are evident changes in the livestock production system and signs that TEK is eroding in the region. Primary contributing factors to loss of TEK include changing aspirations of local people. These aspirations were related to employment in lucrative alternative options like cash crops and tourism, out-migration of the young generation for higher education and the arrival of immigrant labourers as new actors in livestock management. Livestock numbers in the study site remained dynamic between the year 2003-2016 owing to the substantive social and ecological changes. Our results suggest that while the traditional knowledge persists, the signs of erosion in traditional knowledge and associated changes in current herding practices are evident. We argue that recent changes in the pastoral social-ecological system, especially loss of TEK and non-traditional rearing practices, due to increasing dependence on immigrant labourers, may have negative implications for livestock production, rangeland health and wildlife conservation goals in the long run. Long term site-specific studies on livestock production and associated knowledge would be critical for adaptive rangeland management and policies.

Abstract Protected areas fall far short of securing the space needed to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem function at a global scale and in the face of climate change. The prospects of conserving biodiversity in working landscapes help buffer the insularization effects of protected areas and hold great potential for biodiversity conservation on a landscape scale but depend on finding adequate space and a meaningful place in the lives of rural land users. Using a case study in southern Kenya, we show that the conservation of large open landscapes, biodiversity and the coexistence between wildlife and livestock can be achieved indirectly by reinforcing pastoral practices that depend on open space, mobility, social networks and institutional arrangements governing common‐pool resources. Pastoral practices and wildlife both depend on large multiscale interactions within interlinked social and ecological systems, which are threatened by land fragmentation, alienation and degradation. We show that large open spaces can be maintained by using a conservation approach starting from within community aspirations that emphasize the links between livelihoods, productivity, efficiency and resilience in pastoral economies and the secondary benefits of wildlife enterprises. Scaling up from an ecosystem to multi‐scale approach benefits pastoral communities by building resilience and new economic opportunities. In the process, the expanded scale conserves regional biodiversity and large free‐ranging herbivore and carnivore populations underpinning ecosystem function and the nationally important tourism industry centered on the Kenya–Tanzania boundary. The ‘inside‐out’ approach to the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity is place‐based, draws on local knowledge and informal governance arrangements and avoids the stigma of wildlife conservation driven by outside agencies. The human‐centered approach reinforces land health and spatial connectivity and encourages multi‐level and distributed governance arrangements embedded in large regional and national jurisdictions.

Abstract We study the characteristics of contracts in cattle production in Ghana and explain variations in contract type using agency and transaction cost theory. In their study of pastoral groups, especially those in West Africa, anthropologists have distinguished between two categories of contracts in cattle production: cattle owner–herd manager contracts and herd manager–herdsman contracts. However, few studies have analysed the variations in contract type within each category. Using survey data from 342 cattle kraal owners, we explored the contract types under the two contract categories and analysed their drivers using crosstabulations. Contract types in each category can be explicit, with the reward given by the principal explicitly specified, or implicit and unspecified. Environmental uncertainty was associated with implicit contracts while for explicit contracts, kraal owners’ outside options or opportunity cost for monitoring was associated with fixed-wage contracts, subsidy-only contracts, and input contribution by kraal owners. The combination of moral hazard and measurement costs explained whether herdsmen were familial and not paid with milk or hired and paid with milk. Our findings provide further insights into the drivers of contract type.

Book details Jonathan Davies, Claire Ogali, Lydia Slobodian, Guyo Roba, Razingrim Ouedraogo Crossing boundaries: legal and policy arrangements for cross-border pastoralism FAO, IUCN, Rome, 2019 110 pp. Editors: Gregorio Velasco-Gil and Natasha Maru (Pastoralist Knowledge Hub of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ISBN 978-92-5-131112-7

Abstract The official governance of the reindeer pastoralist system in the north of Norway relies overwhelmingly on one central argument: that in order to maintain a sustainable system, maximum numbers and densities of reindeer, as well as certain herd structures, should be upheld. If these indicators are ignored, the argument goes, the consequences are resource degradation and economic collapse. Even though this argument has been challenged by both researchers and reindeer herders across Fennoscandia, it continues to dominate management policies and practice. Here we set out to investigate the validity of the premise that there is a strong relationship between density and carcass weights over the whole of Finnmark, based on official data. We find that although the relationship is present, its explanatory power is not very strong in a variety of circumstances and propose that it therefore cannot be used to frame important governance policies for the whole system. We also critically reflect on the model’s goal of high productivity per capita of reindeer (high carcass weight). We suggest that productivity per area unit can be at least as relevant as carcass weights and perhaps a better indicator for pastoralist systems in general. For the Finnmark pastoralist system, we argue, a measure of productivity in kilogrammes per square kilometer reveals a different picture: rather than being a failed system marred by suffering animals and low economic returns, reindeer herding in Western Finnmark becomes the most productive in Norway. This shift of focus is likely relevant for other pastoralist systems where governance is premised on similar arguments.

There are many writings that deal with shepherding. In this article we discuss" Shepherding Principles "based on the perspective of Psalm 23. The psalmist stresses the importance of understanding the shepherding principle. In this discussion will explain the psalmist's understanding and principles about shepherding. So that through this paper contribute to developing the principles of shepherding.

Abstract Recurrent and prolonged droughts have exacerbated the problems of pasture and water scarcity in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), hence, the need for immediate and long-term adaption strategies to such shocks. Camels are increasingly being integrated into mainstream livestock production systems as an adaptation strategy to droughts. However, rigorous empirical evidence remains scarce on the role of camel-rearing in household resilience to droughts. This study used cross-sectional data from 116 households in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda to examine the effect of camel adoption on household resilience to drought. Resilience to drought was measured as an index constructed from consumption- and income-smoothing indicators using the principal component analysis (PCA) method. The effect of camel adoption on household resilience to droughts was estimated using Lewbel’s estimator. Descriptive statistics show that camel tropical livestock units (TLUs) constituted 25% of the total TLUs of the herd among adopting households. PCA analysis shows that income-smoothing factors (increased off-farm income and alternative sources of income) had the greatest contribution to resilience. Econometric results show that a unit increase in the proportion of camel TLUs significantly increased household resilience to droughts by 20%. The study recommends increased emphasis on income diversification both on-farm and off-farm across programmes that aim to build pastoral household resilience to droughts.

Pastoralism in Central Asia directed the utilization of natural resources, yet information on livestock management strategies remain scarce. Carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope analyses of domesticated sheep teeth are used to identify animal management strategies. Sheep from Kent exhibit an inverserelationship where low δ18O values coincide with high δ13C values, consistent with the foddering of caprines in the winter for this location which occursalongside evidence for an extended lambing season. At the high altitude encampment of Turgen, Bronze Age sheep exhibit low δ18O values that coincide withhigh δ13C values, suggesting that livestock were moved to low altitude pastures in the winter months. Iron Age sheep sequences also have an inverserelationship, where low δ18O values coincide with high δ13C values, yet high δ13C values in the winter suggest that livestock were foddered. Our findingsindicate variation in livestock management strategies with distinct adaptations to local ecologies.

For centuries, the humid West African coastal country of Benin attracts cattle herders from neighboring Sahelian countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. Each year, several thousands of cattle are trekked over hundreds of kilometers to Benin following established and non-established transhumance corridors. This cross-border mobility has been shown to play an important role in ensuring the productivity of the transhumant herds through adequate late dry season access to pastoral resources. Yet, its effects on the traditional agro-pastoral production systems that are encountered along the routes in Benin have never been explicitly investigated. Therefore, we collected socio-economic household data, herd characteristics and management data from 104 resident herders and 38 transhumant herders in 2 vegetation zones of Benin. To determine whether or not the proximity to transhumance corridors affects sedentary production systems, characteristics of cattle herds and farmers’ management practices were compared between villages close to (within a 25 km buffer) and far from (outside a 25 km buffer) transhumance corridors within and between vegetation zones using non-parametric statistical tests. Existing relationships between resident and transhumant herders were also identified and characterized. Subsequently, herd characteristics and management practices were compared between resident herders having relationships with transhumant herders and those without. Herd sizes of resident herders living close to transhumance corridors were larger (P < 0.01) than those of their counterparts living far away. Also, proximity to transhumance corridors had positive effects on herd management practices. The relationships between resident and transhumant herders were governed by a variety of interests including encampment/manuring contracts, exploitation of grazing lands and watering points, trading and bartering of cattle. This exchange of cattle is an important driver of change in the breed composition of local herds and represents an opportunity for resident herders to enhance their herds’ productivity through crossbreeding. However, the mere replacement or indiscriminate crossbreeding of local cattle breeds with those kept by transhumant herders threatens the sustainability of the traditional resident herding systems by increasing the risk of genetic erosion and loss of valuable adaptive traits in indigenous animal genetic resources.

This article argues on the basis of a comparative study in floodplain areas in Cameroon, Tanzania, and Zambia that land tenure issues have to be related to historical institutional changes not only to property rights in land, but also to land related common pool resources. It further outlines that in addition to privatisation of resources, pastoralists face challenges from the fragmentation of cultural landscape ecosystems, which serves to undermine local common property institutions and their reciprocal resource management arrangements that provided resilience in floodplain ecosystems. Colonisation and postcolonial constellations led to a major institutional change from common to state property in African rangelands, and created legal and institutional pluralism which enabled more powerful state and wealthy actors to shop for institutions that suit them best, especially privatisation and open access constellations (Haller 2010). The article argues that it is this institutional change that transformed the previous cultural landscape ecosystems, that conservationists and governments now want to protect by excluding pastoralists. It will analyse how governments and environmentalists increase their bargaining power in order to appropriate these landscapes in the form of land as commons and green grabbing. It will do so by combining a New Institutionalism and Political Ecology approach (NIPE) with Appadurai's notion of scapes (1996) in a way that unpacks power dynamics for legitimacy-based governmentalities that link global and local scales. The article unpacks the idea of ideoscapes and adds a four-step historical phases model to the concept. This illustrates the scapes pastoralists are in (state, neoliberal, neoliberal applied including investment and conservation, and terrorism and control scapes). These scapes provide legitimacy capital for powerful actors, shape platforms for strategic selection of institutions (institution shopping) and act as Anti-Politics Machines (APM).

Conservation-induced displacement has been one of the major critiques of protected area management across South Asia. While there has been a steady increase in research on physical displacement, studies on loss of mobility remain limited. In 1998, a grazing ban was implemented in the state of Sikkim in the Eastern Himalayan region of India. Livestock herding in protected areas was restricted, and pastoral evictions were carried out across the state between 2000–2002. Fifteen years after the ban, we conducted this study to understand the long-term implications of the prohibition on grazing as well as that of the pastoral evictions in and around Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP). To do so, we assess eviction processes, document pastoral responses, and explore the complex social and perceived ecological outcomes of the grazing ban. Our study shows that pastoral evictions result in the further impoverishment of weaker sections of the pastoral community while powerful pastoralists appropriate benefits from conservation policies. Additionally, evictions do not necessarily aid in “biodiversity conservation”; instead, they give rise to social conflicts within the local community and lead to the emergence of new conservation challenges...

A common response to the current global ecological crisis is the conservation of areas still somewhat spared from anthropogenic damage, in spite of an abundant literature evidencing the social and ecological shortcomings of top-down approaches to nature conservation. As part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape Initiative, the Limi Valley of north-western Nepal is currently under consideration for the establishment of one such area. This paper warns about an understanding of conservation as a segregation of humans and nature, which is at odds with local perceptions of landscape as relational. Through the perspective of pastoral practices in the Limi Valley, I show how the Limey – the people of this Valley – conceive of humans as enmeshed within a network of interacting beings under the guiding principles of ecological ethics of care. This conception is framed by religion (a syncretic mixture of Mahayana Buddhism, Bön religion and Animism), as well as by skills of ecological and spiritual embeddedness which are central to pastoral practice. I also warn against the fallacy of considering locals’ relationship to the environment, informed by Buddhism, as intrinsically more prone to eco-friendly practices. I show how this relationship is dynamic and evolving, and influenced by the economic and political context of the last thirty years. This has led to the progressive obsolescence of pastoralism as the main means of livelihood, with consequences for the local inhabitants’ relationship to landscape and to other-than-human species.

Abstract Background Human population history in the Holocene was profoundly impacted by changes in lifestyle following the invention and adoption of food-production practices. These changes triggered significant increases in population sizes and expansions over large distances. Here we investigate the population history of the Fulani, a pastoral population extending throughout the African Sahel/Savannah belt. Results Based on genome-wide analyses we propose that ancestors of the Fulani population experienced admixture between a West African group and a group carrying both European and North African ancestries. This admixture was likely coupled with newly adopted herding practices, as it resulted in signatures of genetic adaptation in contemporary Fulani genomes, including the control element of the LCT gene enabling carriers to digest lactose throughout their lives. The lactase persistence (LP) trait in the Fulani is conferred by the presence of the allele T-13910, which is also present at high frequencies in Europe. We establish that the T-13910 LP allele in Fulani individuals analysed in this study lies on a European haplotype background thus excluding parallel convergent evolution. We furthermore directly link the T-13910 haplotype with the Lactase Persistence phenotype through a Genome Wide Association study (GWAS) and identify another genomic region in the vicinity of the SPRY2 gene associated with glycaemic measurements after lactose intake. Conclusions Our findings suggest that Eurasian admixture and the European LP allele was introduced into the Fulani through contact with a North African population/s. We furthermore confirm the link between the lactose digestion phenotype in the Fulani to the MCM6/LCT locus by reporting the first GWAS of the lactase persistence trait. We also explored other signals of recent adaptation in the Fulani and identified additional candidates for selection to adapt to herding life-styles.

In Eritrea, the shift to sedentary livelihood by the nomadic population has increased dramatically over the last few decades as a result of economic, political, demographic, and environmental changes. A strategic shift to more diversified livelihoods in the form of farming, petty-trade, and wage labor has been intensified due to the declining pastoral economy. This study identified environmental constraints as the main “push” factors causing many people to abandon the traditional pastoral economy, while the provision of social amenities (education, health), and pure drinking water were the “pull” factors attracting people to villages and small towns (sedentary life). The main purpose of this research paper is to provide a fresh outlook at the human and ecological circumstances that trigger the transition from pastoralism to sedentarism in Apollo and Felket areas of Eritrea. Using data gathered mainly through household questionnaire survey and focus group discussion, the paper also aims to investigate whether the changes to sedentary agriculture has led to a successful local economy. Results from this empirical research revealed that the great majority of the settled communities in the study sites get fairly adequate social services and that almost all household heads have no plan on returning to the nomadic way of life. It is anticipated the output from this study will contribute to a better understanding of traditional and changing pastoral systems in Eritrea

Introduction: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is a major driver of AMR in low-resource settings, where the regulation of supply for pharmaceuticals is limited. In pastoralist settings in Tanzania, men and women face varying degrees of exposure to antibiotics due to gender relations that shape access and use of antimicrobials. For example, critical limitations in healthcare systems in these settings, including inadequate coverage of health services put people at risk of AMR, as families routinely administer self-treatment at home with antimicrobials. However, approaches to understanding AMR drivers and risk distribution, including the One Health approach, have paid little attention to these gender considerations. Understanding differences in access and use of antimicrobials can inform interventions to reduce AMR risk in community settings. This paper focuses on the gendered risk of AMR through a study of gender and social determinants of access to and use of antimicrobials in low-resource pastoralist settings in Tanzania., Methods: A mixed methods approach involving household surveys, interviews and ethnographic participant observation in homes and sites of healthcare provision was used, to investigate access and administration of antibiotics in 379 adults in Naiti, Monduli district in northern Tanzania. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit study participants and all data was disaggregated by sex, age and gender., Results: Gender and age are significantly associated with the use of antibiotics without a prescription in the study population. Young people aged 18-24 are more likely to use unprescribed antibiotics than older people and may be at a higher risk of AMR. Meanwhile, although more men purchase unprescribed antibiotics than women, the administration of these drugs is more common among women. This is because men control how women use drugs at the household level., Discussion: AMR interventions must consider the critical importance of adopting and implementing a gender-sensitive One Health approach, as gender interacts with other social determinants of health to shape AMR risk through access to and use of antimicrobials, particularly in resource-limited pastoralist settings., Competing Interests: The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2024 Barasa.)

This study analysed the history of anthropogenically created alpine pastures from the 15th century to the present, as landscape resources for the chamois reintroduction in the second half of the 20th century in the Western Carpathians mountain arc (Slovakia), using the example of the Ďumbier Tatras (the second highest mountain range of the arc). Analysis and reconstructions were carried out on the basis of detailed archival and field research, which showed that grazing herds in the mountain peaks from the Middle Ages to the 20th century created anthropogenically suitable and sufficiently extensive grassy habitats for the chamois reintroduction and the survival of its population. The native chamois population became extinct in the Ďumbier Tatras at the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 years ago). However, anthropogenic deforestation has once again created suitable conditions for its distribution. In the 20th century, a new factor emerged, namely nature conservation and the proclamation of a national park, which meant the end of grazing in the alpine environment and the onset of succession. In the second half of the 20th century, modern tourism became another negative factor for the relocated Alpine chamois population, from the High Tatras back to its quasi-original environment. Tourism development was related to the construction of extensive infrastructure and superstructure in the chamois habitats in the Chopok and Ďumbier massifs. At present, therefore, the preservation of these ‘anthropogenic’ habitats requires active conservation and landscape management.

Background: The co-existence between brown bears ( Ursusarctos Linnaeus, 1758) and farmers in the Pyrenees has been a major concern for several decades. The bear's depredation on livestock has multiple implications for traditional practices of extensive grazing and calls for a better understanding of the various ways in which humans and non-humans interact across different territories. The present dataset stems from "The Pastoralism and Bears in the Pyrenees" research project led by the GEODE laboratory (UMR 5602 CNRS-UT2J) in partnership with the Association Dissonances. Focusing on three summer pastures as places of encounter, this project proposes to explore the definition of co-existence, based on context-dependent and constantly evolving relationships between bears and pastoralists. As part of an interdisciplinary approach combining animal geography and ecology, the spatio-temporal activity of the different species was explored using a network of 118 camera traps., New Information: The 118 camera traps were installed on the three summer pastures while livestock was present in the mountains between May and October, from 2021 to 2023 and were set in a 400 m ✕ 400 m grid covering a total area of around 2,000 ha. The present dataset contains 57,928 occurrences of 22 taxon categories, including 19 identified species, two family categories (equids and mustelids) and one class category (birds). As pastoral activity is significantly present in these areas, livestock (sheep ( Ovisaries Linnaeus, 1758), equids, cows ( Bostaurus Linnaeus, 1758) and goats ( Caprahircus Linnaeus, 1758)) account for 16,207 occurrences across the three pastures. The three main wild species captured over the three years and three pastures were the red deer ( Cervuselaphus Linnaeus, 1758; 9,517 occurrences), red fox ( Vulpesvulpes Linnaeus, 1758; 9,400 occurrences) and wild boar ( Susscrofa Linnaeus, 1758; 4,016 occurrences).Data are aggregated at the grid scale. Nonetheless, the exact locations of each camera trap as well as the photos can be requested from us., (Manon Culos, Alice Ouvrier, Emilie Lerigoleur, Sarah Bitsch, Marie Dewost, Anaïs Guédon, Jonas Guignet, Agathe Le Guével, Aymeric Metz, Oscar Vilbert, Coline Vinette, Ruppert Vimal.)

Pastoralism is a dominant agricultural activity in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The interaction between coprophagous insects and livestock is a key but an undervalued topic in rangeland management decisions. The objective was to identify similarities and differences in the composition of coprophagous insects and nesting strategies, associated with different climatic conditions within these regions. We performed a literature review of research articles available in the Scopus database which resulted in 17 articles. We examined the taxonomic diversity of dung beetles and their nesting strategies in relation to temperature and precipitation at the study sites. Results revealed a rich and varied interaction between dung beetles and livestock in arid and semi-arid environments, with 364 species from the Scarabaeoidea superfamily documented worldwide. The greatest diversity of dung beetles was reported in hot arid and semi-arid conditions with dry winters and in cold semi-arid ones with no marked annual precipitation cycle. These insects displayed diverse nesting strategies, with endocoprid strategies predominating in colder and drier settings, and paracoprid and telecoprid strategies in warmer, more humid environments. Domestic animal species are currently key components in promoting this interaction, which indicates that the ecological processes involving coprophagous fauna are occurring in production systems, which are under the influence of human decisions. We discuss the design and planning of livestock and rangeland management in arid and semi-arid environments, emphasizing in a more formalized manner the inclusion of this kind of interaction., (© 2024. Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil.)

The author is presenting a few of the problems that the sheep breeders are confronting with in Romania, suggesting a new approach for developing this agricultural sector, that would focus on its advantages. Such advantages concern the environment (low carbon footprint, increased carbon sequestration capacity, conservation of plant species and breeds), but also the social dimension of the occupation (e.g.: population of the mountain villages, the important contribution to circular economy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]