AUTHOR

Articles

Editorial: Pastoralists and agroecology
December 19th, 2016

The intrinsic values of pastoralists’ way of life – cultural heritage, their animals and the ecosystems in which they live – are often shunned by today’s policy makers. On top of this, the services pastoralists provide to society at large are underestimated. This issue of Farming Matters explores the different ways pastoral societies are improving … Read more

Who calls the shots? Adapting traditional land governance in Somalia
December 19th, 2016

Pastoral rangelands are vital to Somalia’s livestockdominated economy. But where national government is weak to non-existent, conflict over access to land is rife. Traditional common property regimes are under pressure from enclosures, population growth and charcoal production. Yet even in these very challenging situations, hybrids of customary and ‘modern’ law enable pastoralist communities to assert … Read more

Preserving our Bedouin heritage
December 19th, 2016

A training unit for spinning and manufacturing woolen handicrafts in the Alqasir village, Egypt, has become a place where women not only gain skills from which they can earn an income, but also a place to connect with their cultural heritage. This is a story of one of the first trainees, who quickly became a … Read more

Pastoralists’ breeds hold generations of knowledge
December 19th, 2016

Ilse Köhler-Rollefson argues for in-situ conservation of pastoralists’ breeds  to save generations of knowledge, that of both livestock and their keepers. Over centuries, pastoralists have created a large number of livestock breeds that are of enormous value for food sovereignty: they convert the vegetation of drylands and other uncultivable areas into food. They turn ‘waste’ … Read more

Building the Arab Pastoralist Communities Network
December 19th, 2016

The Arabian Pastoralist Communities Network emerged from one community’s struggle to assert their land rights. In the face of injustice, a local cooperative learnt that in order to participate in local decision making processes they needed to build relationships with national, regional and international organisations. Dana is a small mountain village about 1300 metres above … Read more

Working towards a brighter future in Palestine
December 19th, 2016

Herders in Palestine face many challenges as a result of the occupation, fluctuating rainfall and a general lack of services. Supporting herders to increase their capacities to assert their rights has been an important step towards sustainable pastoralism. Animal production constitutes 48 % of the total agricultural sector in Palestine. Just under half of the … Read more

Local solutions for forcibly confined flocks in Palestine
December 19th, 2016

Pastoralist societies face many difficulties when their traditional livelihoods change, and when sedentarisation becomes the norm. A local organisation providing livestock services, as seen in Palestine, can play a very important role. Bedouins have lived in the Negev desert and Galilee for thousands of years. By means of mobile herding and farming, they thrived in … Read more

Locally rooted: ideas and initiatives from the field
December 19th, 2016

Maintaining a pastoralist’s way of life requires tenacity. From transhumant beekeepers in Mexico to new peasants in Europe, these are stories of pastoralist-led initiatives that challenge marginalisation in political processes. Catalonia Shepherd school While it is true that pastoralism is increasingly revalorised across Europe, the number of flocks and shepherds in the region remain low. … Read more

MIND! > BOOKS AND FILMS
December 19th, 2016

Common Ground: Securing Land Rights and Safeguarding the Earth Oxfam, International Land Coalition, Rights and Resources Initiative. 2016. Oxfam GB. 52 pages. ISBN: 9780855986766 Although protecting half the world’s land, indigenous people and local communities formally own only 20 %, with the remainder being vulnerable to land grabs. This report has been published alongside a … Read more

Yarns from the desert: sustainable guanaco management
December 19th, 2016

As with most wild ungulates, guanacos compete for pasture with domestic livestock. In Southern Patagonia, Argentina, conflict between guanaco conservation and sheep rearing has increased in recent years due to severe droughts and increased desertification. Ranchers hope to declare guanacos as a ‘pest species’ and are starting culling programmes. But a group of pastoralists living … Read more