Pastoralism: A critical asset for food security under global climate change

Krätli, Saverio; Huelsebusch, Christian; Brooks, Sally; Kaufmann, Brigitte

doi:10.2527/af.2013-0007

Cited by 119 publications

(83 citation statements)

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“…In many countries, including Europe, transhumance (a traditional livestock practice based on the movement of livestock between winter and summer pastures) and pastoralism (the practice of mobile livestock raising by use of extensive grazing on rangelands) are husbandry practices used to take advantage of the characteristic instability of rangeland environments, characterised by economic rationality and ecological sustainability (Krätli et al, 2013). In mountain areas of many European countries, although they have shown a declining trend in the last decade, transhumance is still largely practised ( Figure 15), and its advantages in playing a significant role in conserving biodiversity and in sustainably using marginal areas are broadly described (Halstead, 1987 Moreover, considering the lessons learnt in the Saharan-Sahel context, pastoralism has been internationally recognised as one of the best stabilisation strategies for remote and unstable areas (Plateforme Regional Tchadienne, 2013); thus, it could be seen as a practice to be promoted especially in critical situations such as the current ones in the Middle East (see section 3.7).…”

Section: Animal Movements Related To Transhumance Of Small Ruminant Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific Opinion on peste des petits ruminants

2015

EFSA Journal

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Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a severe viral disease of small ruminants caused by a Morbillivirus closely related to rinderpest virus. It is widespread in Africa and Asia and is currently also found in Turkey and Northern Africa. PPR is transmitted via direct contact, and the disease would mainly be transferred to infection-free areas by transport of infected animals. In the EU, it could only happen through illegal transport of animals. The risk of that depends on the prevalence in the country of origin and the number of animals illegally moved. The extent of the spread would depend mainly on the time during which it is undetected, the farm density, the frequency and distance of travel of animals. PPR has a high within-herd transmission rate, therefore contacts between flocks, e.g. through common grazing areas, should be avoided when PPR is present. If PPR enters EU areas with dense sheep population but low goat density, it may spread rapidly undetected, since goats are considered more susceptible than sheep. Effective measures in limiting the spread of PPR in the EU include prompt culling of infected herds, rapid detection, movement restriction, and disinfection. Live attenuated vaccines against PPR are available, safe and effective, and have been successfully used to control PPR epidemics, but no method exists for differentiating between infected and vaccinated animals; therefore, the development of one is recommended. Awareness-raising campaigns for farmers and veterinary staff to promote recognition of the disease should be considered. The cooperation of the EU with neighbouring countries should be encouraged to prevent the spread of PPR and other transboundary diseases. In particular, EFSA was asked to (i) characterise the disease and provide an update on the global occurrence of PPR and changes in the distribution during the last 10 years; (ii) map the region of concern and other countries of the Mediterranean Basin and Black Sea, displaying identified, or likely, major live animal trade routes; (iii) evaluate all possible pathways of introduction of PPR into the EU, ranking them on the basis of their level of risk, with a view to enhancing preparedness and prevention; (iv) assess the risk of introduction and speed of propagation of PPR into the EU and neighbouring countries; (v) assess the risk of PPR becoming endemic in animal populations in the EU; (vi) assess the impact PPR would have if it were to enter the EU, considering different scenarios as regards the effectiveness of surveillance and control measures; and (vii) review the feasibility, availability and effectiveness of the main disease prevention and control measures (diagnostic tools, biosecurity measures, restrictions on movement, culling). © EuropeanRegarding disease characterisation, the AHAW Panel reported that PPR is a severe viral disease of small ruminants caused by a Morbillivirus closely related to rinderpest virus. It is widespread in Africa, the Middle East and Southern Asia. It is one of the priority animal diseases wh...

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Section: Animal Movements Related To Transhumance Of Small Ruminant Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific Opinion on peste des petits ruminants

2015

EFSA Journal

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“…Special attention will need to be given to pastoralism, which may be the livestock system most often considered as posing challenges to gender equality. A substantial component of the developing world's livestock is kept by pastoralists; these systems are likely to be threatened by climate change, but they are of huge economic significance in many developing countries and may also provide some of the means of adapting to newly arid environments (Krätli et al 2013). Worldwide, 26 per cent of the world's land area is taken up by permanent pasture (de Haan et al 2010, 37), and there are probably (Rass 2006) 120 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists worldwide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender equality, resilience to climate change, and the design of livestock projects for rural livelihoods

Chanamuto¹,

Hall²

2015

Gender & Development

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Currently, there is growing interest in how livestock projects can contribute to resilience to the effects of climate change. In this article we recommend a shift away from gross productivity to sustainability, via the use of thrifty local breeds, with an additional emphasis on improving survival of young animals. These animals, due to their local adaptations, are more likely to be resilient to climate change. There is a gender dimension to these proposals, since smaller animals and local breeds are more likely to be perceived by communities as suitable for husbandry by women. We recommend a re-orientation towards an explicit gender-equality focus for these projects.Actualmente, ante los efectos del cambio climático, existe creciente interés en la manera en que los proyectos de ganadería pueden contribuir a la resiliencia. En el presente artículo, los autores recomiendan el pasaje de la productividad bruta hacia la sostenibilidad mediante la cría de las económicas razas locales, haciendo hincapié en elevar la supervivencia de los animales jóvenes. Debido a las adaptaciones desarrolladas frente a las condiciones locales, estos animales tienen mayor probabilidad de ser resilientes al cambio climático. Las recomendaciones sugeridas por los autores contienen una dimensión de género, en tanto que a nivel de las comunidades resulta más probable que la cría de animales pequeños y de razas locales sea percibida como más adecuada para las mujeres. Asimismo, se invita a que este tipo de proyectos sea reorientado incorporando un enfoque explícito de igualdad de género.On observe actuellement un intérêt croissant concernant la manière dont les projets d'élevage peuvent contribuer à la résilience aux effets du changement climatique. Dans cet article, nous recommandons un passage de la productivité brute à la durabilité, grâce à l'utilisation de races locales « économes », en mettant par ailleurs l'accent sur l'amélioration de la survie des jeunes animaux. Ces animaux, du fait de leurs adaptations locales, sont plus susceptibles d'être résilients au changement climatique. Ces propositions ont une dimension de genre ; en effet, les animaux et les races locales ont plus de chances d'être perçus par les communautés comme adaptés à Gender & Development, 2015 Vol. 23, No. 3, 515-530, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2015.1096041 ©2015 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. 515l'élevage par les femmes. Nous recommandons une réorientation vers un axe central explicite tournant autour de l'égalité entre les sexes pour ces projets.

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“…Conversely, studies of other wetland pastoral resources in Africa have revealed similar results: that the traditional and informal use of pastoral resources is often more profitable and more resilient in the face of climate change than the alternative systems being promoted by governments and aid agencies (Hesse and MacGregor 2006;Behnke and Kerven 2013;Krätli et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

What value for pastoral livelihoods? An economic valuation of development alternatives for ephemeral wetlands in eastern Mauritania

Shine¹,

Dunford

2016

Pastoralism

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Pastoralism in Africa faces new challenges in an era of climate change, despite some improvements in policy and legislative frameworks as well as sporadic investment in pastoral development. There are concerns that pastoralism will not be sustainable in a climate-affected world, and this is seeing the return of policies to settle pastoralists and introduce modern cropping. Pastoralism is not yet understood as a specialisation to take advantage of instability and variability, and as a result, the trend has continued towards replacing pastoralism as a livelihood strategy rather than investing in it. It is in this context that a study conducted in eastern Mauritania between 1999 and 2001 is presented here to demonstrate the economic value of ephemeral wetlands as multi-use resources for pastoralism, agriculture and biodiversity. At the time the study was conducted, governments and aid agencies across the Sahel were targeting wetlands as areas of high development potential to combat poverty and increase food security, converting them from multi-use resources to single-use, arable resources. The study assesses the benefits of multiple-use systems compared to such single-use systems through economic valuation of production from the respective systems. Arable agriculture, livestock rearing and botanical and other natural resources are valued in the case of multiple-use systems and compared to arable production from single-use systems. Multiple-use systems are found to out-perform single-use systems based on annual production values, when opportunity costs and the replacement costs of wetland resources are taken into account. The results also show that the multi-use systems are better adapted to a highly variable climate than single-use arable systems that are highly vulnerable to rainfall fluctuations. This has implications for production in a climate-constrained world where diversification and investment in pastoralism as a strategy for managing variability in drylands will be increasingly important. The methodology used to value the wetlands remains relevant 15 years later, as governments, aid agencies and international organisations develop policies to guide pastoralism in dryland systems that are becoming increasingly variable and unpredictable in the face of climate change.

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Pastoralism: A critical asset for food security under global climate change

Cited by 119 publications

References 13 publications

Scientific Opinion on peste des petits ruminants

Scientific Opinion on peste des petits ruminants

Gender equality, resilience to climate change, and the design of livestock projects for rural livelihoods

What value for pastoral livelihoods? An economic valuation of development alternatives for ephemeral wetlands in eastern Mauritania

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