Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

The changing face of pastoral systems in grass-dominated ecosystems of eastern Africa 63
received their training in cropping systems for wet areas, with no personal
experience in extensive rangelands (Horowitz and Little, 1987). It might be that
the “intensification paradigm” is inappropriate for pastoral lands and that the
success and sustainability of production depends on extensification rather than
intensification, maintaining mobility and flexibility for opportunistic production
(e.g. Sandford, 1983; Scoones, 1995).
In addition, recent re-evaluations have recognized that livestock production
is not the sole value of pastoral lands; rather, the focus might be more appropriately
placed on improving pastoral livelihoods and maintaining ecosystem
health in these vast lands (de Haan, 1999; Niamir-Fuller, 1999). A consensus
is emerging that pastoral lifestyles are more compatible with maintenance of
rangeland integrity than are other types of land use.
Rapidly changing systems with changing needs
Pastoral systems in eastern Africa are rapidly evolving, driven by a combination
of policy changes, drought , migration and human population pressure.
Research and development efforts need to recognize such change and develop
ways to understand and mitigate the effects of these changes.
Focus generally on human welfare and maintaining environmental
goods and services
Eventually, if major constraints are removed, it may be possible for pastoralists
to herd more productive livestock breeds in eastern Africa n pastoral ecosystems .
Until that happens, the focus should be less on production increases per se
and more on diversifying livelihoods and maintaining environmental goods
and services in pastoral lands (de Haan, 1999). There is good potential for
alternative sources of income within pastoral areas from plant products (resins,
medicinal plants), pastoral ecotourism and wildlife tourism (de Haan, 1999).
There is some suggestion that income from ecotourism will surpass income
from beef production in these lands in the developed world over the next
decade (de Haan, 1999). Analogous to the Clean Development Mechanism of
the Kyoto Protocol, it eventually may be possible to pay pastoralists (through
biodiversity credits, for example) for maintaining ecosystem goods and services
that have global benefits.
More emphasis on providing pastoral people with high quality
information
Recent reviews of pastoral development emphasize the probable failure of
many technical interventions in pastoral ecosystems . Blench (2000) suggests
that the best way forward is better provision of high quality information to
pastoralists, by asking the question: “What will pastoralists do if they have
access to more and better information?” Pastoralists, because of their mobility
and loose connections to national economies, are likely to be some of the