http://www.pastoralismjournal.com The latest research articles published by Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013-05-03T00:00:00Z The nomadic pastoralist system in Baft district in Kerman province is well known in Iran for producing cashmere from Raeini goats. However, there is little information on the production system. Interviews were carried out with 30 Siahjel nomad families of Raen origin in proximity of about 20 km to Baft city in 2010 to characterise the production system in terms of family labour force, work sharing, livestock numbers, management and marketing practices, and diseases. The nomads move their livestock over large distances within the rangelands of the region from May to November, and the majority migrate south during autumn and winter. Of the nomad families, 87% live with and manage their animals together with one or more other related families. All household heads are males. All family members are involved in raising livestock; males and hired labourers dominate the physically harder jobs like shepherding and breeding, while women are involved in milking and caring. Of the animals, 80% are owned by adult or young unmarried males, none by daughters. Average proportion of goats and sheep per family flock are 89% and 8%, respectively, which indicates that Siahjel nomads mainly rely on goats. Adult breeding females constituted the largest group within the goat herds. The rationale for keeping a high number of male goats may be related to their greater production of cashmere. Diseases accounted for 57% of adult and 88% of young animal deaths. The most prevalent diseases were enterotoxaemia, foot-and-mouth disease, pneumonia, agalactia and diarrhoea. Animal sales, meat, cashmere and milk production are the major reasons for keeping goats. Rangeland is considered as the main source of feeding (85% of total annual feed intake); the remaining 15% is provided by stubble grazing. However, the herds do not produce enough meat, milk and cashmere to sustain the life of the nomad families, and thus, they often have to sell part of their stock which will further decrease their income. http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/11 Hamid Ansari-Renani Barbara Rischkowsky Joaquin Mueller Seyed Mojtaba Seyed Moumen Sepehr Moradi Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:11 2013-05-03T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-11 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-11-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 11 2013-05-03T00:00:00Z XML Bahr Alarab river, a tributary from the White Nile, forms a natural as well as the political boundary between the two states - Sudan (north) and South Sudan (south) - of the river system. It also represents the natural boundary between the Nilotic tribes of Dinka Malual and Nuer in the south and the Messeriya and Rezaighat Baggara Arab pastoralists (cattle owners) north of the river. This naturally endowed river system, which lies between latitudes 9° and 10° N and 22° and 32° E, provided the basis for a symbiotic and peaceful co-existence between these diverse ethnic pastoral groups for more than three decades. The pastoralists, through a well-articulated seasonal migration cycle, managed to successfully share grazing, hunting and fishing areas, in addition to trading and bartering consumer commodities inside what they called ‘peace markets’. All these pastoral practices were governed by customary laws enforced by their tribal leaders, through joint tribal courts.With the separation of the Sudan into two sovereign states - Sudan and South Sudan - in June 2010, new political and security realities emerged, adversely impacting the lives of these pastoral groups. Due to the continuous hostility between the two neighbouring states, the traditional administration which used to monitor the common border was changed into a semi-military structure on both sides.To circumvent this drastic change of governance and to continue with their mutual relationships, the two communities, the Malual Dinka on one side and Messeriya and Rizaighat on the other, managed to conduct a series of tribal conferences during 2011, culminating in the signing of a joint protocol, stipulating in detail how they should share the natural resources over the river system, regardless of the political changes and hostilities between their two nations. I call this ingenious and pragmatic initiative ‘people to people diplomacy in a pastoral system’. http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/12 Ali Abdalla Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:12 2013-04-29T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-12 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-12-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 12 2013-04-29T00:00:00Z XML Book details http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/10 Maria Fernandez-Gimenez Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:10 2013-04-11T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-10 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-10-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 10 2013-04-11T00:00:00Z XML Book details http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/9 Robin Bendrey Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:9 2013-04-10T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-9 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-9-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 9 2013-04-10T00:00:00Z XML While the goal of African pastoralists is health and longevity of herd and household, some of their management strategies appear to counter this long-term goal. Pastoralists in the far north region of Cameroon, for example, do not always remove chronically sick animals from their herds, even though chronic diseases, such as brucellosis, are contagious and have the potential to cause fertility problems in the herd. We used ethnographic and epidemiologic methods to understand why pastoralists do not remove chronically sick animals and whether their management strategies have an impact on herd fertility. We used semi-structured interviews to collect data on pastoralists' understandings of disease and its impacts on fertility as well as data on herd management. We compared these data with disease prevalence and herd fertility data to measure the effect of management strategies on herd fertility. We found that the percentage of chronically sick animals in a herd negatively correlated with herd fertility, but this was not true for the prevalence of brucellosis. Thus, preliminary examination of disease costs and benefits suggests that herders' decisions to keep sick animals in their herds may lower herd fertility, but this is not due to brucellosis alone. The results of this study underline the complexity of infectious disease ecology in pastoral systems and the need for holistic and comprehensive studies of the ecology of infectious diseases in pastoral systems. http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/8 Jessica Healy Profitós Mark Moritz Rebecca Garabed Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:8 2013-03-20T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-8 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-8-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 8 2013-03-20T00:00:00Z XML The nomadism/pastoralism debate has always been closely connected to discourses about modernization theories whenever development issues were at stake. While the mainstream debates have changed since stage models apparently became outdated, it is surprising that the Chinese development model seems to adhere to classical modernization theory. Consequently, it appears worthwhile to consider present challenges in the pastoral sector first from the Chinese perspective and, second, in comparison with the situation in neighbouring countries.The discussion reveals that the Chinese model is quite different from neighbouring countries' practices and is embedded in an authoritarian approach that suggests similarities with the implementation of a development model during the collectivization phases in the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, when Stalinist- and Mao Zedong-inspired models were implemented under autonomy and sedentarization regimes. Nevertheless, the present context is quite different because ecological degradation of pastures and the non-existent closure of the development gap between affluent urbanites and remote farmers and pastoralists have been addressed by implementing the present resettlement programmes.In China's pastoralism regions, the tragedy of responsibility is related to top-down approaches without adequate participation of stakeholders. In neighbouring countries, pastoralists tend to complain about negligence by state authorities, non-binding regulations and arbitrariness by powerful actors. Countries such as India and Pakistan are still reworking their colonial legacies and trying to adapt pasture legislation to the demands of rangeland management and nature protection. Hermann Kreutzmann Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:7 2013-03-19T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-7 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-7-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 7 2013-03-19T00:00:00Z XML Book details Daniel Miller Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:6 2013-03-15T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-6 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-6-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 6 2013-03-15T00:00:00Z XML The relationship between humans and wolves is often associated with conflicts strongly linked with livestock breeding activities. However, as conflicts are often more intense than expected considering the magnitude of their economic impact, some authors have suggested that these conflicts are disconnected from reality and are mainly due to persistence of negative perceptions from previous times. To the contrary, we suggest that local people’s perceptions are often linked to wolf behaviour through direct observations and interactions. We conducted ethnological investigations on human-wolf relationships in countries belonging to former USSR (Kyrgyzstan) and former Yugoslavia (Republic of Macedonia), subjected to rapid social changes impacting both livestock husbandry and hunting practices. Our studies revealed that changes in hunting and husbandry practices have led to modifications in the socio-environmental context and to the nature of wolf-human interactions. These changes have resulted in an increased vulnerability of local people to wolf damage and a concomitant reduced acceptance for wolves. All these changes contribute to changes in the perception of the wolf and to an increase in the perception of conflicts, even in countries where humans and wolves have continuously coexisted. Our study shows the dynamic nature of human-wolf relationships, the necessity to understand the broader socio-economical context in human-wildlife conflicts, and the challenge pastoralists are facing in a changing world. http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/4 Nicolas Lescureux John Linnell Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:4 2013-02-22T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-4 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-4-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 4 2013-02-22T00:00:00Z XML Book detailsKreutzmann, H (editor)Pastoral Practices in High AsiaDordrecht Heidelberg New York London, Springer; 2012.350 pages, ISBN 978-94-007-3845-4, ISBN 978-94-007-3846-1 http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/3 Sarah Robinson Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:3 2013-01-09T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-3 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-3-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 3 2013-01-09T00:00:00Z XML Book detailsWerger, Marinus JA; and van Staalduinen, Marja A (editors)Eurasian Steppes. Ecological Problems and Livelihoods in a Changing World.Dordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, London: Springer; 2012.565 pages, ISBN 978-94-007-3885-0, ISBN 978-94-007-3886-7 http://www.pastoralismjournal.com/content/3/1/2 Sarah Robinson Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2013, null:2 2013-01-09T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-2 /content/figures/2041-7136-3-2-toc.gif Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 2041-7136 ${item.volume} 2 2013-01-09T00:00:00Z XML