Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and water.

Pastoralism is found in many variations throughout the world. Composition of herds, management practices, social organization and all other aspects of pastoralism vary between areas and between social groups. Many traditional practices have also had to adapt to the changing circumstance of the modern world. Ranches of the United States and sheep stations and cattle stations of Australia are seen by some as modern variations.

Origins

One theory asserts that pastoralism followed mixed farming (rainfall-dependent agriculture with animal husbandry). A model presented by Bates and Lees suggests that it was the introduction of irrigation to farming which resulted in the selective pressures for specialization. The increased productivity of irrigation agriculture ultimately resulted in population growth and pressure on resources, which lead to greater land and greater labour requirements for intensive farming. Marginal areas of land were often all that was left for animal rearing. To acquire enough forage, large distances had to be covered by herds. This resulted in a higher labour requirement for animal tending. As a result of the increasing requirements of both intensive agriculture and pastoralism, the two practices diverged and specialization took place. Both developed alongside each other, with continuing interactions. Other proponents of this view include Levy (1983) and Hole (1996).

Another theory is that pastoralism was derived directly from hunting and gathering. In this view, hunters of wild goats and sheep already had knowledge of herd dynamics and the ecological needs of the herd animals. These groups were already mobile, and followed wild herds on their seasonal round. The process of domestication began before the first wild goat or sheep was tamed as result of the selective pressure of hunter prey-choice acting upon the herd. In this way, wild herds were selected to become more manageable for the proto-pastoralist nomadic hunter and gatherer groups.

Resources

As explained in the origins section, pastoralism takes place mainly in marginal areas, where cultivation (and the higher energy achieved per area) is not possible. Animals feed on the forage of these lands; an energy source which humans cannot directly utilize. The herds convert the energy into sources available for human consumption: milk, blood and sometimes meat.

There is a common conception that pastoralists exist at basic subsistence. This assumption is not true; groups often accumulate wealth and can be involved in international trade. Complex exchange relationships exist with horticulturalists, agriculturalists and other groups; pastoralists rarely exist exclusively with the products of their herd.

Resource management

Pastoralism is well adapted to the environments where it exists; it is a successful strategy to support a population with the limited resources of the land. Important components of the pastoralist adaptation include low population density, mobility, and dynamism, and complex information systems.

Mobility

Mobility allows pastoralists to simultaneously exploit more than one environment, thus creating the possibility for arid regions to support human life. Rather than adapting the environment to suit the "food production system" the system is moved to fit the environment. Pastoralists often have an area with a radius of 100–500 km. This is not to suggest that pastoralists and their livestock have not altered the environment. Lands long used for pastoralism have evolved under the pressures of regular grazing on one hand and, on the other, anthropogenic fire. Fire was a method of rejuvenating pasture land and preventing forest regrowth. Over time, the combined environmental pressures of routine fire and livestock browsing have transformed landscapes in many parts of the world. With fire as the main tool, pastoralists have deliberately tended the land, keeping it in forms of pasture suited for their herds. An example such a landscape is the Maquis shrublands of the Mediterranean region, which are dominated by pyrophytic plants that thrive under conditions of regular fire and browsing.

Different mobility patterns can be observed:

Nomadic pastoralists: 1) it is a generalized food-producing strategy with its main base relying on the intensive management of herd animals for their primary products of meat and skin, and for their secondary products such as wool or hair, milk, blood, dung, traction, and transport; 2) because of the different climates and environments of the areas where nomadic pastoralism is practiced and because of the ecology of their herd animals, this management includes daily movement and seasonal migration of herds; 3) because a majority of the members of the group are in some way directly involved with herd management, the household moves with these seasonal migrations; and 4) while the products of the herd animals are the most important resources, use of other resources, such as domesticated and wild plants, hunted animals, goods available in a market economy, is not excluded.

Transhumance: where members of the group move the herd seasonally from one area to another, often between higher and lower pastures. The rest of the group are able to stay in the same location, resulting in longer-standing housing.

Mobility throughout altitudes and the resulting precipitation differences is important. In East Africa, different animals are taken to different regions throughout the year, to match the seasonal patterns of precipitation.

The actions of herders are carefully planned, but also constantly adjusted, to match changing conditions. The system is dynamic, to suit the unpredictable landscape. All pastoralist strategies exemplify effective adaptation to the environment.

Because the Pastoralists were constantly moving, it put them at odds with sedentary people of towns and cities. The resulting conflicts could result in all out war for disputed lands. These disputes are recorded in ancient times in the Middle East.

Information

Intrinsically linked with mobility is the complex “maps” that pastoralists keep in their minds, marking out the usefulness of certain areas at different times of year. Pastoralists have a detailed understanding of ecological processes and environmental inputs. Information sharing is essential for creating such deep knowledge. This is made possible by formal visiting rules and networks, keeping dispersed societies linked.

Elders discuss and cautiously plan in advance, using the knowledge they acquire, in order to act in the most appropriate way.

Disruption of management strategies

This ability for careful control and planning was wiped away with colonialization. In the Sahel region of Africa, mobility was restricted, settlement was encouraged and the population tripled with improved sanitation and medical care. The previous balance of the pastoralist system was disturbed.

Tragedy of the commons?

Hardin’s ''Tragedy of the Commons'' (1968) described how common property resources, such as the land shared by pastoralists, ultimately become overused and ruined.

Following this paper, the pastoralist land use strategy suffered criticisms of being unstable and a cause of environmental degradation. A particularly strong example of this is based in the Sahel zone in Africa, where human mismanagement by pastoralists was blamed for desertification and depletion of resources. The problems were actually due to previous interference and particularly severe climate conditions. However, Hardin’s paper suggested a solution to the problems, offering rational basis for further privatization of land. This encouraged more intrusion and the transfer of land from tribal peoples to the state or to individuals. However, modernization and privatization programmes negatively affected the livelihood of the pastoralist societies and actually worsened the ecological impact.

Examples of this throughout the world are believed to provide further evidence that the pastoralist way of life is an efficient system; one of the few ways of supporting a population in a difficult environment and representing a sustainable approach to land use. With traditional pastoralist strategies, the “tragedy” is avoided through the management practices described above.

Social organization

Each pastoralist adaptation occurred in different contexts; there is therefore no specific form of social organization associated with pastoralism. However, pastoralist societies are often organised in tribes, with the ‘household’ (often including extended family) as a basic unit for organization of labour and expenses. Lineages can be the basis for property rights. An in-depth discussion of one particular nomadic pastoralist social structure can be found in the Bedouin article.

Mobility allows groups of pastoralists to split and regroup as resources permit, or as desired with changes in social relations.

Cross-border pastoralism

Sometimes pastoralists move their herds across international borders in search of new grazing or for trade. This cross-border activity can occasionally lead to tensions with national governments as this activity is often informal and beyond their control and regulation. In East Africa, for example, over 95% of cross-border trade is through unofficial channels and the unofficial trade of live cattle, camels, sheep and goats from Ethiopia sold to Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti generates an estimated total value of between US$250 and US$300 million annually (100 times more than the official figure). This trade helps lower food prices, increase food security, relieve border tensions and promote regional integration. However, there are also risks as the unregulated and undocumented nature of this trade runs risks, such as allow disease to spread more easily across national borders. Furthermore, governments are unhappy with lost tax revenue and foreign exchange revenues.

There have been initiatives seeking to promote cross-border trade and also document it, in order to both stimulate regional growth and food security, but alo allow the effective vaccination of livestock. Initiatives include Regional Resilience Enhancement Against Drought (RREAD), the Enhanced Livelihoods in Mandera Triangle/Enhanced Livelihoods in Southern Ethiopia (ELMT/ELSE) as part of the Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoral Areas (RELPA) programme in East Africa, and the Regional Livelihoods Advocacy Project (REGLAP) funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO).

Examples of pastoralist societies

Traditional

North & Northeast Africa

Afar of the Horn of Africa

Bedouin of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

Beja of North Africa and the Horn of Africa

Berbers of North Africa

Oromos of the Horn of Africa

Rendille of the Horn of Africa

Saho of the Horn of Africa

Somalis of the Horn of Africa

Tigre of the Horn of Africa

Tuareg of the north-central Sahara

Sahel

Fula people of Sahelian West Africa

Toubou of Niger and Chad

Sub-Saharan Africa

Karimojong of Uganda

Maasai of East Africa

Pokot of East Africa

Samburu of East Africa

Turkana of East Africa

Near East

Kuchis of Afghanistan

Yörük of Turkey

South Asia

Ahir found throughout North India

Baghelmainly in UP and MP satate of India

Bakarwal found in Jammu and Kashmir

Bharwad in Gujarat

Bhutia in nort India and Nepal

Bodla found in Pakistani Punjab

Charan in Gujarat and Rajasthan

Chishti found in Pakistani Punjab

Dhangar found in Maharastra, MP

Gaddi of Himachal Pradesh

Maldhari of Gujarat

Muslim Gaddi

Gaderiain UP and MP

Gvala in Bangladesh

Ghosi

Gujjar found in North India, Afghanistan and Pakistan

Kuruba found in South India

Kurma found in South India

Rabari of Gujarat, Rajasthan and panjab

Ranghar found in North India and Pakistan

Sherpa in Nepal

Wattu found in Pakistani Punjab

Raika found in Rajasthan

Central Asia

Tuvans of Mongolia

Southern Europe

Aromanians of Balkans

Sarakatsani of Greece

Northern Europe

Komi of northern Russia

Sami of Scandinavia

North America

Navajo of North America

Modern

One of the consequences of the break-up of the Soviet Union and the subsequent political independence and economic collapse of its Central Asian republics is the resurgence of pastoral nomadism. Taking the Kyrgyz people as a representative example, nomadism was the centre of their economy prior to Russian colonization at the turn of the C19/C20, when they were settled into agricultural villages. The population became increasingly urbanized after World War II, but some people continued to take their herds of horses and cows to the high pasture (''jailoo'') every summer, i.e., a pattern of transhumance. Since the 1990s, as the cash economy shrank, unemployed relatives were absorbed back on the family farm, and the importance of this form of nomadism has increased. The symbols of nomadism, specifically the crown of the grey felt tent known as the yurt, appears on the national flag, emphasizing the centrality of their nomadic history and past in the creation of the modern nation of Kyrgyzstan.

See also

Herding

Nomadic pastoralism

Pastoral -- literary treatment of pastoralists

Pastoral farming

Transhumance

References

Bibliography

Alvard, M. S. and L. Kuznar (2001). ''Deferred harvest: the transition from hunting to animal husbandry''. American Antiquity 103(2): 295-311.

Fagan, B. (1999) "Drought Follows the Plow", adapted from ''Floods, Famines and Emperors'': Basic Books

Fratkin, E. (1997) ''Pastoralism: Governance & Development Issues''. Annual Review of Anthropology, 26

Hardin, G. (1968) ''The Tragedy of the Commons''. Science, 162, 1243–1248

Hole, F. (1996). "The context of caprine domestication in the Zagros region'". in ''The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia''. D. R. Harris (ed.). London, University College of London: 263-281.

Ingold, T. (2000). ''The Perception of the Environment''. London: Routledge.

Kipuri, N. & Ridgewell, A. (2008) A Double Bind: The Exclusion of Pastoralist Women in the East and Horn of Africa, London, Minority Rights Group

Lees, S & Bates, D. (1974) ''The Origins of Specialized Nomadic Pastorlaism: A Systematic Model''. American Antiquity, 39, 2.

Levy, T. E. (1983). ''Emergence of specialized pastoralism in the Levant''. World Archaeology 15(1): 15-37.

Markakis, J. (2004) Pastoralism on the Margin, London, Minority Rights Group

Monbiot, G. (1994) ''The Tragedy of Enclosure''. The Scientific American

Pyne, Stephen J. (1997) ''Vestal Fire: An Environmental History, Told through Fire, of Europe and Europe's Encounter with the World''. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97596-2

Saltini Antonio, Storia delle scienze agrarie, 4 vols, Bologna 1984-89, ISBN 88-206-2412-5, ISBN 88-206-2413-3, ISBN 88-206-2414-1, ISBN 88-206-2414-X

Smith, A. B. (1992). ''Pastoralism in Africa''. London, Hurst & Company.

Wilson, K.B. (1992) ''Rethinking Pastoral Ecological Impact in East Africa''. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 8, 4

Category:Economies Category:Land use Category:Livestock Category:Pastoralists

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