Co-existence of wildlife and pastoralism on extensive rangelands: competition or compatibility?

Niamir‐Fuller, Maryam; Kerven, Carol; Reid, Robin S.; Milner‐Gulland, E. J.

doi:10.1186/2041-7136-2-8

Cited by 67 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Ultimately, it is the herders who own the land and bear the highest costs (e.g. wildlife, disease and drought) yet as Naimir-Fuller et al (2012) remind us, so often wield the smallest voice despite the largest representation.…”

Section: Conclusion: Towards Revitalizing Shared Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Continuity and change within the social-ecological and political landscape of the Maasai Mara, Kenya

Jandreau

Berkes

2016

Pastoralism

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Traditional livestock management has historically been blamed for the mismanagement of rangelands, but there is a growing recognition of the importance of extensive herding strategies and the local knowledge embedded in these practices. Here, we apply the lens of continuity and change to understand how local herders interpret environmental change. By exploring traditional rangeland indicators as used by Maasai herders, we highlight some of the forces of change that appear to constrain the application of local knowledge of rangeland health. Fieldwork was conducted from January to August 2013 in the Mara Division, Narok County, Kenya, employing semi-structured interviews, transect walks, focus groups, participatory mapping and participant observation. Findings suggest that continuity exists in many of the traditional methods of observing land and livestock. However, various obstructions are surfacing in a political landscape in which local knowledge holders are not always able to put their knowledge and observations into practice. These obstructions of knowledge, practices and skills occurred through three broad forces involving acculturation, prohibition and applicability. As possible consequences of a system in transition, these forces illustrate the unbalanced nature of overlap between heterogeneous users, conflicting interests and power differentials. In order to facilitate continued importance and growth of local knowledge, we conclude that resource and protected area managers must recognize local knowledge holders and ensure such knowledge is considered as more than anecdotal or strategic. By encouraging hybrid knowledge co-production in management decisions, the decision-making frame can be broadened to include herders for more inclusive decision-making.

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Section: Conclusion: Towards Revitalizing Shared Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Continuity and change within the social-ecological and political landscape of the Maasai Mara, Kenya

Jandreau

Berkes

2016

Pastoralism

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“…In African landscapes, pastoralism, shifting cultivation, permanent or semi-permanent agriculture, and agroforestry have altered the environment to a point that the present landscape is the product of human-induced changes as much as natural variation in vegetation [7]. Over the last decades, anthropogenic impacts and competition over land have become issues of major concern [8,9]. Many areas in Africa are experiencing substantial human population growth, and, as a result, a shift away from extensive pastoral livestock-keeping to subsistence-oriented small-scale farming and agroforestry [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural Expansion and Intensification in the Foothills of Mount Kenya: A Landscape Perspective

et al. 2017

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This study spatially assesses, quantifies, and visualizes the agricultural expansion and land use intensification in the northwestern foothills of Mount Kenya over the last 30 years: processes triggered by population growth, and, more recently, by large-scale commercial investments. We made use of Google Earth Engine to access the USGS Landsat data archive and to generate cloud-free seasonal composites. These enabled us to accurately differentiate between rainfed and irrigated cropland, which was important for assessing agricultural intensification. We developed three land cover and land use classifications using the random forest classifier, and assessed land cover and land use change by creating cross-tabulation matrices for the intervals from 1987 to 2002, 2002 to 2016, and 1987 to 2016 and calculating the net change. We then applied a landscape mosaic approach to each classification to identify landscape types categorized by land use intensity. We discuss the impacts of landscape changes on natural habitats, biodiversity, and water. Kappa accuracies for the three classifications lay between 78.3% and 82.1%. Our study confirms that rainfed and irrigated cropland expanded at the expense of natural habitats, including protected areas. Agricultural expansion took place mainly in the 1980s and 1990s, whereas agricultural intensification largely happened after 2000. Since then, not only large-scale producers, but also many smallholders have begun to practice irrigated farming. The spatial pattern of agricultural expansion and intensification in the study area is defined by water availability. Agricultural intensification and the expansion of horticulture agribusinesses increase pressure on water. Furthermore, the observed changes have heightened pressure on pasture and idle land due to the decrease in natural and agropastoral landscapes. Conflicts between pastoralists, smallholder farmers, large-scale ranches, and wildlife might further increase, particularly during the dry seasons and in years of extreme drought.

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“…The adoption of such concepts as CBNRM acknowledges this point and strives to meet the needs of rural communities through sustainable economic exploitation of wildlife while achieving the country's resource conservation objectives. Niamir-Fuller et al (2012) further assert that integration of wildlife management and livestock can offer multiple and complementary income sources, provided that stronger governance and regulatory co-management are in place.…”

Section: Livestock Predationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Mosalagae

Mogotsi

2013

Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice

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Despite their importance to rural livelihoods, the economic and environmental sustainability of contemporary communal pastoral systems of the Kalahari is increasingly being put under scrutiny. Using data collected from a survey of randomly selected pastoral households from two districts of Ghanzi and Kgalagadi South, Botswana, this paper outlines the major constraints affecting contemporary extensive pastoral systems. Because of the prevailing semi-arid climate, recurrent drought outbreaks were cited as a common challenge in both study areas together with lack of fenced grazing areas. Stock theft was also highlighted as a challenge, even though it was more pronounced in Kgalagadi South. In Ghanzi area, the other important challenges included loss of livestock due to predation, while stray animals, stock theft and loss of livestock due to road accidents were equally important. Kgalagadi South pastoral households experienced serious shortage of drinking water for their livestock, followed by inadequate grazing land and limited access to distant markets. The preceding, together with several other less prominent challenges revealed in this study, exert pressure on pastoral livelihoods. There is need, therefore, to address these perceived challenges and strengthen resilience through effective policy reviews to secure rural livelihoods.

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Co-existence of wildlife and pastoralism on extensive rangelands: competition or compatibility?

Cited by 67 publications

References 23 publications

Continuity and change within the social-ecological and political landscape of the Maasai Mara, Kenya

Continuity and change within the social-ecological and political landscape of the Maasai Mara, Kenya

Agricultural Expansion and Intensification in the Foothills of Mount Kenya: A Landscape Perspective

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

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