Economic Irrationality Among Pastoral Peoples: Myth or Reality?

Monitoring sand dune stabilization along the coastal dunes of Ashdod-Nizanim, Israel, 1945–1999

“…While livestock grazing was perceived in the past as harmful to nature conservation (the common property problem; see Livingstone, 1977Livingstone, , 1986, Perevolotsky (1999) claims that the long history of grazing in the Negev (and in other areas of Israel) converted it into a ''grazing-incorporated system'', and that the grazed state is, in fact, the most ''natural'' state. It may be stated that the preservation of sand-living flora and fauna and a landscape of mobile sand dunes, will be greatly facilitated if grazing by Bedouin herds (or other equivalent ecological processes) will be reintroduced to that area.…”

Spreading deserts or spatially confined environmental impacts? land degradation and cattle ranching in the kalahari desert of botswana

“…The human aspects of dryland pastoralism have received similar reassessments, primarily through treating herding as more than a purely economic activity. Although administrators and government officials may retain views of economic irrationality directed at traditional pastoralists (see Livingstone, 1977), academic support for this view has evaporated after detailed sociological investigations (e.g. McCabe, 1990).…”

The relationship between cattle and savings: A cattle‐owner perspective

“…Various authors (Livingstone 1977, Behnke 1984and Doran, Low & Kemp 1979 have shown that traditional cattle-keeping practices are rational. This discussion will.test the contention that, given the present socioeconomic and natural environment in the area, storing wealth as cattle is rational.…”