Growing struggle over rising demand: How land use change and complex farmer-grazier conflicts impact grazing management in the Western Highlands of Cameroon

Feldt, Tobias; Karg, Hanna; Kadaoure, Ibrahima; Bessert, Leon; Schlecht, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104579

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The latter aspects also require knowledge on pasture quality over time (historical knowledge/tradition) and in dry vs. moist years (Angassa and Beyene, 2003). Further necessary knowledge pertains to the presence or absence of medicinal and poisonous plants, location and qualities of soils with higher content of (essential) minerals, water availability and quality, soil borne and vector borne diseases such as anthrax and trypanosomiasis or Rift Valley fever, and of predators and poisonous animals such as snakes or scorpions (Angassa and Beyene, 2003;Feldt et al, 2020). With view to future re-usage of the grazing area, knowledge is also decisive on the growth behavior of both desired and unwanted range plants following a grazing event.…”

Section: Herding Needs Knowledge Skills and Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of using companion animals for moving (horses, camels, dromedaries), guiding or guarding (dogs) the flocks, herding also requires knowledge, practice and experience in working with these individuals (Savalois et al, 2013). Another important task of herders is keeping animals out of cultivated zones to avoid crop damage and conflicts with crop farmers (Turner et al, 2016b;Feldt et al, 2020;Houessou et al, 2020). This can only be assured by full-day attendance of the flock (Turner and Hiernaux, 2008).…”

Section: Herding Needs Knowledge Skills and Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another growing threat to herding is the expansion of banditry and terrorism in numerous remote arid areas of sub-Saharan Africa-from Mali across Burkina Faso, Niger and northern Nigeria into Chad, in the Horn of Africa and in arid parts of Kenya. Also affected are the more humid but sparsely settled northern zones of Ivory Coast, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (Alemu, 2018;Abdullahi, 2019;Feldt et al, 2020), and southern Madagascar (Feldt and Schlecht, 2016). Given the wealth on the hoof they are managing in highly unsecure areas, herders are at serious risk of attack.…”

Section: Herding Is Under Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Threats of animal theft and to personal life increasingly reduce herders' safe operational space in such areas, and may even lead to abandonment of agro-/pastoral use. In consequence, land use pressure may increase in secure areas that are already more densely populated and present little opportunity for flexible herd mobility (Feldt et al, 2020).…”

Section: Herding Is Under Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Managing Rangelands Without Herding? Insights From Africa and Beyond

Schlecht¹,

Turner

Hülsebusch

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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In many parts of the world, the utilization of rangelands is based on the targeted movement of herds within and across often vast territories. Crucial for the success of these livestock operations are decisions on how to flexibly allocate animals to the existing vegetation, both in terms of numbers and concentrations, and in space and time. Research from large scale ranching in the prairies of the Americas, and nomadic or transhumant livestock systems in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, suggests that the more precisely specific patches of vegetation at a specific development stage can be targeted, the more beneficial will be the outcome in terms of animal nutrition and productivity. This also holds for the provision of environmental services such as aboveground net primary production, biodiversity preservation, and soil fertility. However, herding requires year-round labor investment, and in rural areas where seasonal migration is an important livelihood strategy, herding may suffer from absence of skilled workforce. Additional obstacles are political neglect and land use competition, insecurity, reduced self-ownership rates of herds, partial social isolation of herders, and hardship of the work. These make herding an increasingly unpopular occupation, especially for the young generation, but there are also factors that drive (young) people to take up or continue this profession. Reduced herding efforts, reflected in the reluctance to utilize remote grazing areas, may lead to overstocking of favorable pastures. This increases the risk of pasture degradation, long-term reduced herd productivity, social conflict, and public criticism of pastoralism as an anachronistic lifestyle and detrimental land stewardship, thereby further fueling the erosion of herding. By reviewing studies from Africa, the Middle East, and southern and eastern Asia, and including some insights from Europe and southern America, we discuss the ecosystem services produced by herding and herd mobility, and reflect on the ecological and social consequences of the loss of herding labor. Highlighting aspects that speak for this occupation at the individual level, we conclude by suggesting interventions that may sustain the herding profession, such as facilitation of labor sharing, labor contracts, improved herder security, and societal payments for ecological and cultural services.

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Section: Herding Needs Knowledge Skills and Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Herding Needs Knowledge Skills and Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Herding Is Under Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Herding Is Under Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Managing Rangelands Without Herding? Insights From Africa and Beyond

Schlecht¹,

Turner

Hülsebusch

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…EO applications in savannas have also applied traditional hard Human population growth increasingly poses a threat to savanna ecosystems due to land use, land cover changes, and management policies [6] Climate change, such as prolonged droughts and erratic rainfalls, along with government policies for reforestation and afforestation, continue to threaten the resilience of savanna ecosystems [7,8]. As such, savannas have witnessed extended land clearing in the past three centuries which threaten the ability of savannas to continue serving as a carbon sink [9]. In South American savannas, about 48% of the Caatinga and 53% of the Cerrado savannas are reported to be impacted by humans due to agricultural expansion, which leads to the fragmentation of these savanna biomes [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-Temporal Mixed Pixel Analysis of Savanna Ecosystems: A Review

et al. 2021

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Reliable estimates of savanna vegetation constituents (i.e., woody and herbaceous vegetation) are essential as they are both responders and drivers of global change. The savanna is a highly heterogenous biome with high variability in land cover types while also being very dynamic at both temporal and spatial scales. To understand the spatial-temporal dynamics of savannas, using Earth Observation (EO) data for mixed-pixel analysis is crucial. Mixed pixel analysis provides detailed land cover data at a sub-pixel level which are essential for conservation purposes, understanding food supply for herbivores, quantifying environmental change, such as bush encroachment, and fuel availability essential for understanding fire dynamics, and for accurate estimation of savanna biomass. This review paper consulted 197 studies employing mixed-pixel analysis in savanna ecosystems. The review indicates that studies have so far attempted to resolve the savanna mixed-pixel issues by using mainly coarse resolution data, such as Terra-Aqua MODIS and AVHRR and medium resolution Landsat, to provide fractional cover data. Hence, there is a lack of spatio-temporal mixed-pixel analysis for savannas at high spatial resolutions. Methods used for mixed-pixel analysis include parametric and non-parametric methods which range from pixel-unmixing models, such as linear spectral mixture analysis (SMA), time series decomposition, empirical methods to link the green vegetation parameters with Vegetation Indices (VIs), and machine learning methods, such as regression trees (RT) and random forests (RF). Most studies were undertaken at local and regional scale, highlighting a research gap for savanna mixed pixel studies at national, continental, and global level. Parametric methods for modeling spatio-temporal mixed pixel analysis were preferred for coarse to medium resolution remote sensing data, while non-parametric methods were preferred for very high to high spatial resolution data. The review indicates a gap for long time series spatio-temporal mixed-pixel analysis of savannas using high resolution data at various scales. There is potential to harmonize the available low resolution EO data with new high-resolution sensors to provide long time series of the savanna mixed pixel, which, according to this review, is missing.

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Dynamic simulation and conflict identification analysis of production–living–ecological space in Wuhan, Central China

Wang

2022

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Under the current rapid urbanization and industrialization in China, competition for production, living, and ecological spaces is becoming fierce. Improving production-living-ecological spaces (PLESs) has become a core issue in China's landspace development strategy. In this study, the multiple linear logistic regression (MLLR)-multicriteria evaluation (MCE)cellular automata (CA)-Markov hybrid model was used to predict the land-use pattern for 2030, and the spatial conflict model was established based on landscape indices to measure the evolution characteristics of spatial conflicts. The results demonstrated that, from 2005 to 2030, the production-ecological space (PES) will have front-runner status in Wuhan, followed by the ecological-production space (EPS). In 2005-2015, the living-production space (LPS) and PES occupied large amounts of EPS and ecological space (ES), especially in the main urban areas and near rivers, and the spatial transformation was the most significant. By 2030, there will be less transformation of each space type, but the conversion amount of LPS will still be relatively large. With the passage of time, the LPS will increase, the EPS will decrease slightly, and the ES will fluctuate. During the period 2005-2030, the conflict level will change gradually from seriously out of control to controllable, and the hot spot of PLES will show a scattering distribution. The cold spot area will be distributed mainly in the southern part of Wuhan, which will be expanded greatly by 2030. Our research indicates that analyzing the reasonable utilization of PLES is of great value by identifying spatial conflicts; differentiated sustainable development strategies should be formulated according to the future spatial and temporal patterns of PLES, which can help in scientific judgments on the spatial matching of land use and provide early warnings of spatial conflicts.

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Growing struggle over rising demand: How land use change and complex farmer-grazier conflicts impact grazing management in the Western Highlands of Cameroon

Cited by 24 publications

References 28 publications

Managing Rangelands Without Herding? Insights From Africa and Beyond

Managing Rangelands Without Herding? Insights From Africa and Beyond

Spatio-Temporal Mixed Pixel Analysis of Savanna Ecosystems: A Review

Dynamic simulation and conflict identification analysis of production–living–ecological space in Wuhan, Central China

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