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

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Grasslands of the world
last to have access to information in any form, particularly high technology
information.
Restoring pastoral access to key resources , increasing mobility and
flexibility, and ensuring security
In many parts of eastern Africa , pastoralism is the only way to convert
sunlight into food. In these systems , new policies and management practices
can still learn from the wisdom of Stephen Sanford (1983): opportunistic
management of widely varying forage resources will be essential to reducing
pastoral vulnerability. This means that maintenance of mobility and flexibility
in grazing management strategies will remain particularly important. Another
issue in eastern Africa is security – pastoral livelihood will hardly improve
in areas where there is armed conflict . Asset and income diversification and
improved access to information and external resources will also help. Improved
risk management will enable pastoralists to take action to reduce the chance of
losing assets, income or other aspects of well -being (Little et al., 2001).
Addressing gaps in our knowledge about how pastoral systems
work in eastern Africa
We conclude this chapter with a number of questions that remain either
unanswered or partly answered, but that must be addressed fully in eastern
Africa n rangelands. How many pastoralists are there in eastern Africa? How
poor are pastoralists compared with people in crop-livestock systems ? What
is the evidence that eastern African rangelands are degraded (Niamir-Fuller,
1999)? Does the magnitude and variability of rainfall modify the effect of the
driving forces of change in pastoral ecosystems ? How does extensification
of pastoral systems in eastern Africa affect ecosystem goods and services?
What are the ecological and economic costs and benefits of different land use
practices and land use change in these systems? How do pastoral land use
practices (adoption of cultivation , abandonment of nomadism, permanent
settlement, landscape fragmentation) affect the distribution, diversity and
viability of nutrients, vegetation , biodiversity and landscapes in pastoral
ecosystems in eastern Africa? How do changes in land tenure and economic
policy affect pastoral ecosystem structure and function? How do changes in
pastoral ecosystems affect household incomes and nutrition ? What are the
economic, social and ecological values of global ecosystem goods and services
provided by pastoral ecosystems in eastern Africa (Homewood, 1993; Niamir-
Fuller, 1999)? What are the most reliable and broadly comparative indicators
of ecosystem change across eastern African pastoral systems (e.g. microbes,
soil crusts)? What forces serve to enhance or maintain complexity in pastoral
ecosystems and livelihoods, and what decreases complexity? How do we
establish benchmarks for ecosystem and livelihood change in pastoral systems
that are already heavily used?