Abstract
The long-term future of traditional land uses, especially arid zone pastoralism, is discussed in the light of environmental, economic, social, and political changes. Apart from these, climate change impact and other upheavals attributed to global change with the water, soil, food energy (WSFE) nexus and its implications are also discussed in this chapter.
Pastoralism in the arid zone has always been severely constrained. The key constraints which have plagued pastoralism in the past include both the technical (animal health and nutrition) and the sociopolitical (land tenure, policy issues, religion) and economic (market economy, trade, etc.). Added to this is the increasing problem of the effects of climate change. Emerging problems include the conservation of the resource base (including biodiversity issues), the globalization of the world economy, the breakdown of culture and tradition, and the constraints imposed by systems of governance.
On a global basis, livestock production based on pure grazing systems is relatively unimportant and also grows at the lowest rate. Pastoral systems production grows at 1%, mixed farming at 3%, and industrial production at more than 7%. It is clear that the balance is changing, even in sub-Saharan Africa, and that intensification is on its way, although in certain areas, horizontal expansion may still be an option.
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Notes
- 1.
Drylands is an internationally accepted term to cover subhumid, semiarid, and arid regions of the world.
- 2.
Rangeland ecosystems include deserts, shrublands, grasslands, and open forests and only exclude commercial forests, cultivated lands, ice-covered regions, and areas covered by solid bare rocks.
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Further Readings
H.Y. Feng, V.R. Squires, Climate Variability and Impact on Livelihoods in the Cold Arid Tibet Plateau (Springer, Cham, 2017), pp. xx, this volume
R.B. Harris, Rangeland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau: a review of the evidence of its magnitude and causes. J. Arid Environ. 74, 1–12 (2010)
A.E. Sidahmed, Recent trends in drylands and future scope for advancement (Springer, Cham, 2017) pp. xx, this volume
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Gaur, M.K., Squires, V.R. (2018). Drylands Under a Climate Change Regime: Implications for the Land and the Pastoral People They Support. In: Gaur, M., Squires, V. (eds) Climate Variability Impacts on Land Use and Livelihoods in Drylands. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56681-8_15
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