Policies in support of pastoralism and biodiversity in the heterogeneous drylands of East Africa

An Notenbaert, Jonathan Davies, Jan De Leeuw, Mohammed Said, Mario Herrero, Pablo Manzano, Michael Waithaka, Abdilahi Aboud, Shadrack Omondi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Research and practice are increasingly demonstrating the environmental benefits ofpastoralism and the opportunity for sustainable development of pastoralcommunities through a combination of livestock and biodiversity-related business.To take full advantage of the potential biodiversity-pastoral synergies, it will becrucial to put in place supporting policies. They need to be embedded in thecontext of overall pastoral development. However, rangelands and pastoral societiesin drylands are heterogeneous, and development options cannot be assumed to beuniform. Factors such as aridity, access to markets and population pressure influencethe constraints and the opportunities for both pastoral and non-pastoralcommunities. We describe the differential challenges to development along thesegradients and identify investment priorities if the policy objectives were to supportthe complementarities between pastoralism and biodiversity conservation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number14
JournalPastoralism
Volume2
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
ISSN2041-7136
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Sept 2012
Externally publishedYes
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 519 Social and economic geography
  • Pastoralism
  • 5203 Global Development Studies

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