Unit 2.3: Pastoralism and Development: A Critical Debate

Unit 2.3: Pastoralism and Development: A Critical Debate

Instructor: Prof. Abdelaziz Karamalla Gaiballa
Field Practitioners: Dr. Hussein Tadicha

In this Unit 2.3, we will share understanding of the Pastoralism and Development and the Critical Debate about this.

2.3.1 Views on Pastoralism in Development Context

Before we go in-depth in handling issues related to Pastoralism and Development: A Critical Debate, let us navigate through the following:

Number of studies and reports reflect contrasting views in respect to Pastoralism development, some of them consider among the reasons for pastoralists' exclusion are national, political, economic, geographical remoteness and lack of education. This situation makes pastoralists less engaged in advocacy activities and been neglected by central governments, mainly in the provision of basic development services including education.

Pastoralism is a culture, way of life, economic and livelihood system. Pastoralist’ livelihoods have come under increasing strain as a result of external shocks, both natural and man-made. As a result of drought, changing public policies and strategies towards pastoral communities, continuing loss of pasturelands, population dynamics, and accelerating climate change, violent conflict and displacement, the future of pastoralism and the role that it will play in national economy and sustainable development remains unclear. Policy-makers face a challenging task when designing pastoral development policies and strategies. In fact, many aspects of pastoralism and pastoral communities are still not fully understood and require applied research (Abduselam, 2019).

Pastoral development is development of pastoralism, not out of pastoralism. Early pastoral development programs focused on ‘rationalizing’ a livestock sector assumed to be in a state of disorder (Salih, 1991). Pastoralism was seen as part of the state of disorder, development had no place for pastoralism; at best it would assist pastoralists in moving out of pastoralism. In this light, economic diversification was designed to replace pastoralism even where it could have been designed to support or complement it. There is now overwhelming evidence that seeing pastoralism as a problem has been a mistake, and that the adaptive specialization of pastoral systems represents the most sustainable and efficient way of using drylands for food production (Little et al., 2008).

It is clear that pastoral development needs finally to become the development of pastoralism, working with pastoral systems to support and strengthen them, improving pastoralism as a profession and safeguarding the integrity of its key resources. This does not mean forgetting those who do not wish to follow a life of pastoralism, or who have been squeezed out of it in times of crisis. They need help to reorganize their lives and find alternatives, especially as social marginalization and poor formal education has placed them at a severe disadvantage (Krätli, 2019).   

Pastoralism need specific forms of social organization and institutions capable of regulating access to natural resources in appropriate ways, with solutions that differ radically from those that are suitable for settled farmers. In addition to experiencing environmental marginality, in many areas pastoralists have been excluded from decision-making and from access to services, making them the most vulnerable category among rural communities.

In all probability, the spatial mobility will remain an important characteristic of stock breeding in many arid environments. The general trend in pastoralists’ development will be connected with the growing commercialization of production, introduction of modern livestock technology, the better definition of property rights, and, in some cases, even the introduction of private land tenure. In order to achieve benefits from pastoralism, however, the value of pastoralism needs to be recognized. Some progress has already been made - in Europe, for example, countries such as Spain, France and Switzerland are investing in pastoralism in order to protect biodiversity. In fact, projects to promote pastoralism can be found in all regions of the world however efforts still need to be stepped up (CBD, 2010).

Read this case study before attending the following session.

2.3.2 Future of Pastoralism

Livestock herding is an important source of food, employment, insurance and savings for millions of people. Nevertheless, one of the context-specific traits of pastoral development is that pastoral systems and their economic value are largely invisible in public data. Despite commonly held views that pastoralism fails to maximize the productive potential of livestock production, research attests that pastoral systems have much higher economic returns per hectare than conventional agriculture and sedentary livestock-rearing under similar conditions. Official figures do not accurately capture pastoralists' contribution to the economy since many pastoral products are traded outside formal market

Instructions for Students

Students are requested to watch and listen to the YouTube open access video. The video describes regional Sahel Pastoralist Project, aiming to improve access to essential productive assets, services, and markets for pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in six Sahel countries, and improve the local response to pastoral crises and emergencies and main pastoralists’ livelihood development interventions.

Essential Watch

Copyright: YouTube

Mandatory Quiz  [Click Here]

Case Study: Vulnerability of Pastoralism:

Read the following case study.

Download the PDF file and read the document: https://nmbu.brage.unit.no/nmbu-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2726487/sustainability-12-02737.pdf?sequence=2

High Mountains of Nepal, traditional rights of mountain communities, including forest and rangeland management policies, have not been recognized and not handled within appropriate policy reformulation. The effects of globalization on social and economic activities and changing lifestyles of the local communities, are a particular threat to the wellbeing of youth in these communities. Advised that local institutions should promote profit-oriented sustainable farming activities, along with links to markets and associated value-added product development in order to minimize production risks for these mountain communities. Further research needed to provide knowledge useful in future design and implementation of more effective policies and programs, which will lead to development of future healthy and resilient mountain economies. Also, despite the strong socio-economic and ecological significance of traditional pastoralism in the mountain region, it is in a transitional phase due to increasingly diverse challenges involving the herding system. The socio-economic changes, policy focus on establishing more conservation areas, and recentralization of local rights, combined with increasing impacts of climate change and risks of extreme weather events such as avalanches, heavy snowfall, intense storms, and drying water sources are contributing factors. These stressors are exacerbated by uncoordinated governmental policies and programs that have collectively contributed to the decline of the transhumance system in the high mountains of Nepal. It is also believed that the government programs and policy interventions for high-altitude pastoralism development have been inadequate to properly address the distinct socio-economic and ecological features of these mountain regions.

Essential Readings:

Abduselam, A.M. (2019). Pastoralism and Development Policy in Ethiopia: A

Review Study. BIRCI Journal, 2(4). https://bircu-journal.com/index.php/birci/article/view/562

CBD (2010). Pastoralism, Nature Conservation and Development. Convention on

Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada. https://www.cbd.int/development/doc/cbd-good-practice-guide-pastoralism-booklet-web-en.pdf

Krätli, S.  (2019). Pastoral Development Orientation Framework.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336983785

Little, D.P., McPeack, J., Barret, C.B. and Kristjanson, P. (2008). Challenging

orthodoxies: understanding poverty in pastoral areasof East Africa. Development and Change, 39(4): 585–609. https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=ecn

Salih, M.A.M. (1991). Livestock development or pastoral develop ment? In: Baxter

P.T.W. (ed.), When the Grass is Gone. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala.

Tiwari, R., Sitaula, B.K, Bajracharya, R.M., Raut, N., Bhusal, P. and Sengel, M.K.

(2020).  Vulnerability of Pastoralism: A Case Study from the High Mountains of Nepal. Sustainability, 12: 2737. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1207273

Forum P-001 Discussion Notes

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