Pastoral Societies

This article will provide an overview of pastoral societies. The article describes the development of pastoralism, from its early roots as an emerging form of civilized society, to the various types of modern pastoralism, to the outlook for the future of pastoral societies. The article also explores the characteristics of the social organization of pastoral societies. These characteristics include a predominantly patriarchal society where men and women have clearly defined roles, and internal means by which social rules are enforced and traditions preserved. This overview also explores the economic systems of pastoral societies. Although pastoral societies historically have been largely economically self-sufficient, they are increasingly engaging in trade and commerce. Some of the most common forms of commerce utilized by pastoral societies include protecting land tenure rights, selling animals and animal products, and developing channels and systems to facilitate trade. Pastoral societies also engage in many forms of labor that this article describes, such as hunting and fishing as well as carefully breeding their livestock and herds to promote the heartiest animals that may also be sold or traded in their local economies. Finally, this article discusses some of the issues facing modern pastoral societies, including pastoralists and the environmental movement, the rise in competing uses of the world's rangelands, and the need for protecting and preserving the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which pastoral societies roam.

Keywords Adaptation; Agrarian Societies; Artifact; Biodiversity; Conservation; Cultivation; Drought; Ecosystem; Fodder; Indigenous; Land Tenure; Land Use; Livestock; Natural Resources; Nomads; Pastoral Societies; Territory

Pastoral Societies

Overview

Pastoralism is the raising of livestock on natural pasture that is unimproved by human intervention. Pastoral societies roam vast expanses of rangelands according to the seasons, environmental conditions, and needs of their livestock and individual members. These societies are closely associated with their animals. Pastoralists carefully guide their livestock to the best conditions for grazing on the open range and keep a watchful eye for predators, disease, infestations, and other hazards that could harm their herds. Thus, pastoralism is contrasted with the provision of cultivated fodder for domesticated livestock that are kept in pens or sheds, a practice that is often associated with more developed societies. Pastoral societies have been in existence for centuries, and while they have largely disappeared from most urban or developed regions, they continue to utilize vast land areas in Australia, parts of South America and Asia, and the open plains of Africa.

Pastoralism is most often found in countries with semiarid open lands on which farming could not be easily sustained without extensive irrigation channels for importing water. In the dry conditions that would devastate crops, pastoralists are able to relocate their herds by moving them to new areas. In addition, the rangelands used by pastoralists often cannot be developed with conventional agriculture techniques because the land is too remote from a water source. However, as technical advances have enabled cultivation capabilities to encroach further into land once deemed unfit for agriculture, pastoralists have often been forced off of rangelands and into increasingly inhospitable terrain. In spite of the remote nature of their lives, pastoralists make substantial contributions to the economies of the regions and countries in which they live. For instance, pastoral societies generally support the households of their individual members, and they supply important protein sources, such as meat, cheese, yogurt, and milk to villages and towns.

In the twenty-first century, pastoral societies are under increasing threat from many fronts. Trade globalization in livestock products has resulted in competitive pricing and import policies in many countries. Also, marginal lands that were previously used by pastoralists are being seized as reserves for biodiversity and conservation efforts. The governments of many developing countries are also facing pressure to declare large regions of land to be protected areas in response to the lobbying efforts of conservation groups and the realization that these lands can be lucrative sources of tourist income. The future of pastoralism will depend in many respects upon the political and economic decisions made by national governments in countries with extensive grasslands.

Development of Pastoralism

Types of Pastoralism

According to O'Neil, there are two types of pastoralism: nomadism and transhumance.

Pastoral nomads follow a seasonal migratory pattern that can vary from year to year. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined primarily by the needs of the herd animals for water and fodder (O'Neil, 2007).

These nomadic societies never live in permanent settlements, but rather in tents or other portable dwellings that can be moved and reconstructed with relative ease. Pastoral nomads are usually self-sufficient in terms of food, basic necessities, and culture (O'Neil, 2007).

Transhumance pastoralists follow a cyclical pattern of migration in which they move from cooler, elevated regions in the summer to warmer, low-lying valleys in the winter. Generally, transhumance pastoralists migrate between the same two places, enabling them to have regular encampments or stable villages, often with permanent houses at both locations. Because they are more settled than pastoral nomads, transhumance pastoralists are less dependent on their animals for food and often engage in small-scale vegetable farming at their summer encampments to supplement their diets. They also are more likely to trade animals and animal products for grain, tools, or other items that they do not produce themselves (O'Neil, 2007).

Modern Forms of Pastoralism

In the twenty-first century, most pastoralist societies follow a way of life that is a blend of nomadic and transhumance pastoralism. In addition, pastoralism has taken various forms, depending on the needs and geography of various regions. A modern type of pastoralism can be found in western North America, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and a few other areas of the world where contemporary cattle and sheep ranchers still practice traditional methods. These ranchers are not subsistence pastoralists; they have made a significant investment in land, buildings, and livestock, and view their work as an industry rather than a survival tactic. Many of these ranchers are also businessmen who produce meat and other commodities for national and international markets using mechanized equipment and modern transportation to move livestock to more favorable conditions. In spite of these modern resources, though, there are still significant similarities between modern and traditional pastoralists. Their livelihoods can quickly be lost to theft, disease, or natural disaster. For the modern pastoralists, it is often worth the risk, as herds can double in a few years, yielding tremendous financial gain (O'Neil, 2007).

The Future of Pastoralism

Pastoralism will likely continue to survive, especially in poor countries, because it is an efficient means for developing a subsistence living in remote and semiarid regions. Pastoral societies do face resistance from some governments that have tried to minimize the migrations of pastoralists and required reductions in the size of their herds in order to prevent overgrazing.

These efforts have been consistently resisted by pastoralists because large herds are often seen as symbols of wealth and as security against unpredictable climates and the periodic epidemics among their animals. Further, conservation has not been traditionally important for pastoralists because, up until the twentieth century, they migrated over vast regions and could easily move on when grasses and water were depleted in one area (O'Neil, 2007).

However, the future of pastoralists holds substantial hurdles. Throughout Africa and the Near East, pastoralists are being driven into increasingly remote and undesirable areas through the gradual expansion of arable terrain. Global trade in livestock production also threatens pastoralists, and marginal lands that were previously roamed by pastoralists and their herds are being demanded for use as protected lands or biodiversity sanctuaries. Because pastoralists remain a valuable resource for producing meat and milk products inexpensively on land that is otherwise difficult to exploit, these societies will remain in some form. However, the preservation of pastoral societies will also depend upon the political, social, and economic policies implemented by the countries they inhabit and upon the ability of these countries to understand and value the contributions pastoral societies make to their own members and to the larger society (Blench, 2001).

Further Insights

Social Organization

Pastoral societies are often managed by a complex set of traditions, ranging from the simple to the complex, to coordinate and regulate the actions of individual members. These traditions are based on an intimate and highly developed knowledge of the physical and social environment that the pastoralists inhabit. Their main objective is to preserve societal hierarchies while ensuring the success of future generations. The most fundamental pastoral social systems are often based upon climatic changes, which can affect wet and dry seasons, and thus direct the informal rules of land occupation and tenure and grazing rights. In addition, pastoral societies are almost always patriarchal, with limited roles for women. The traditions of these societies run deep and are enforced through both spoken and tacit societal rules. The following sections will describe these various characteristics of the social organizations of pastoral societies in greater detail.

Patriarchal Structure

Pastoralists often have the same distinct characteristics of social organization regardless of the region of the world in which they live. Pastoral societies are almost always patriarchal and are led by a key group of men who are generally the offspring of dominant or wealthy families. The men in pastoral societies tend to be cooperative with each other, yet aggressive toward outsiders. Pastoralist leaders often have developed keen abilities to direct the movements of their herds while gaining optimal use from scarce resources. They can make important economic and survival decisions quickly, and they generally have a profound emotional attachment to their animals. Thus, male leaders in pastoral societies develop qualities such as self-containment, personal control, and bravery at a young age, and boys in these societies are encouraged to emulate these qualities as they grow up.

Beyond a patriarchal structure, the basis of most pastoral societies is the clan, which is “a set of patrilineally related households traced to a common ancestor” (Blench, 2001, p. 41). Such groupings are based upon a family lineage that may be relatively short or so great that the ancestral figure becomes something of a myth. The preservation of these genealogies is very important, especially to the aristocratic classes of nomadic societies because their lineages legitimate their positions of wealth and power.

Role of Women in Pastoral Society

The great majority of pastoral societies are male-dominated. In addition, many pastoral societies practice pre-inheritance, in which the father disperses his herds among his sons prior to his death, although the animals generally remain in the same physical herd after the inheritance is transferred. In some pastoral societies, daughters may inherit some animals upon the death of the household head, but these are then "managed" by the women's brothers (Blench, 2001).

In most pastoral societies, gender roles are strongly marked, with social patterns consistent across the world (see also Dahl, 1987). Women are typically responsible for milking and dairy processing; they may or may not sell the milk, but they usually have control over the proceeds in order to feed the family. Men are responsible for herding and selling meat animals (Blench, 2001, p. 42). In systems in which herds are split, women usually stay at fixed homesteads while men go away with the animals.

According to O'Neil,

Further, because of the labor demands of pastoral societies, for a pastoral household to be viable there must be a wife to carry out key domestic tasks. This system becomes unwieldy if there are multiple wives with their own children and households. However, there are exceptions to this rule, particularly in pastoral societies where older men may marry younger women to enhance their lineage, wealth, and influence.

Enforcement of Societal Rules

Most pastoral groups do not maintain an internal government body or police force, although their societies still function with order and cooperation. This is because interdependence is so necessary for survival that the threat of being ostracized for violating social norms is a significant deterrence against aberrant behavior. Further, some traditions regarding land use are so fundamental that they become regarded as inviolable and are widely respected by all groups in a region. For instance, these fundamental rules often include the concept of land tenure as "first come, first served," rights of historical precedence and rights of continual occupancy (Warren, Slikkerveer Brokensha, 1995).

More complicated rules require some form of informal or formal enforcement. Informal procedures include the kinship system of inheritance and family lineage and the rules and obligations set up by the culture. Formal procedures may include overt punishment for wrongdoing or even societal rejection. Social ostracism is a powerful tool used by the societies to keep its members in line and may include social rebuke, shame, or different degrees of social isolation. The societies also use praise and social rewards to reinforce positive actions. Because pastoral societies tend to be dominated by older men who have attained their positions through years of bravery and loyalty to the existing leadership, the social values that preserve order and moral culture are less at risk than in societies with younger leaders or more frequent changes in leadership.

Economy

Pastoral societies are largely dependent upon the ability of individual members to maximize the efficiency and productivity of the resources over which they have some control. Resources must be carefully protected, such as by moving herds away from poor conditions in search of water, grasses, and other natural resources. Thus, the economies of pastoral societies are built upon systems of land tenure, the development and sale of animals and animal-based products, and other forms of trade.

Land Tenure & Ownership

Pastoral systems function according to an opportunistic use of land that is at odds with modern systems of land ownership and defined use. While farmers, land developers, and civilized societies usually develop regulated systems of land ownership and tenure, many pastoral peoples have fluid views of the land. Rather than owning parcels of land that are used for relatively constant purposes, pastoral societies roam the land to provide their livestock and herds with optimal grazing opportunities. When rangelands are dry and patchy, pastoralists will move to more fertile land. Likewise, they may move their entire herds across vast areas of land to seek ideal climate conditions. Because of the frequency of their moves and the amount of land they cover, it is unreasonable for pastoral societies to invest in owning the land they use. In addition, such a system would make it extremely difficult for landowners to monitor and evict trespassers, as they would often be absentee landowners. Although pastoral societies generally do not harm the land, the nature of their land use is less explicitly beneficial than that of farmers and business developers. Thus, as societies grow and competition for land increases, farmers and developers may begin cultivating or building on land that herders regularly once used for grazing their livestock, often without compensating displaced the pastoralists. Because they generally operate in remote areas without access to schools, pastoralists rarely have the literacy or knowledge necessary to negotiate land rights or register land claims, and thus are stripped of access to land by both farmers and urban developers (Warren et al., 1995).

Even in regions where agriculture or urban sprawl is not practical, pastoralists compete with one another for prime grazing sites. Many pastoral societies have developed internal systems to regulate land usage based on power, historical use of land, and pacts among families and tribes. Finally, in addition to agriculture and urban development, the tenure of pastoralists is also threatened by governments and powerful corporations in search of oil, minerals, and other subterranean resources. Land may be appropriated from traditional pastoral regions for building mining and drilling sites, often without negotiation or compensation. Thus, conflicts over land rights and tenure pose significant threats to pastoralists. These conflicts are particularly troublesome for pastoral societies because they generally lack the organization and political clout to lobby for rights and protections, and governments rarely resolve to shelter pastoralists from the interests and resources of the powerful or wealthy.

Sale of Pastoral Products

Pastoralists have historically sold and exchanged livestock, animal products, or handmade goods for food items and household necessities. These transactions are often conducted without the transfer of cash, as many pastoralists exchange animals or goods for the items being purchased. However, as modern societies have increasingly moved to currency-based economies, pastoralists have been forced to adapt. To subsidize the needs of their families and herds, pastoral societies are generally able to trade in or sell dairy products, preserved meat, hides and skins, and work animals for the currency needed to purchase necessary items (Food and Agriculture Organization o the United Nations, n.d.).

Pastoralists depend heavily on meat and dairy products for nutrition and trade. Thus, many pastoral societies have developed specialized dairy products, such as cheese, milk, and yogurt. However, these products are somewhat dependant on climate and grazing conditions, as the milk livestock produce is affected by dietary conditions. In addition, because milk production is seasonal, pastoralists that depend on sales of milk and other dairy products to acquire other goods must develop techniques to preserve the products so that they may be sold when there is a market opportunity.

Pastoralists practice various meat preservation techniques according to the timing of slaughter and access to markets. When animals are slaughtered only at certain times of year, the meat must be preserved for use or sale throughout the year. This poses a particular challenge for pastoral nomads who move frequently in search of ideal grazing conditions. For these pastoralists, freezing meat is not an option, and thus smoking and salting meat and meat products are frequent techniques that are used to preserve fresh meat for later consumption or sale. Also, if meat is not sold, it is generally shared among the community to limit spoilage and waste.

Livestock skins and hides can be transformed into valuable products, including furs, leather goods, and various household items, such as brushes and tools. In addition, wool products are often prized for their beauty, durability, and warmth. These items can yield substantial profits for pastoralists who become skilled in a trade or craft. Further, as various forms of wool or skins grow in demand in regional and international markets, pastoralists may increase their herd sizes of highly prized animals. However, increasing the size of the best livestock takes time and careful breeding strategies. Thus, pastoralists often cannot respond to rapidly changing market demands.

Although pastoralists do not traditionally utilize animals for labor the way farmers do, pastoral societies still use animal labor in various capacities. For instance, animals may be ridden as pastoralists oversee their herds or used to transport families and household items during migrations. In addition, certain animals may be trained for labor so that they may be sold for a premium. Some pastoral societies, particularly transhumance pastoralists, use working animals for plowing or carting during the periods when they settle in a particular region and then herd these same animals during periods of migration or grazing. Further, some pastoral societies work in conjunction with agricultural societies to create a system of trade, whereby work animals are "loaned" to farmers in exchange for money or produce. This enables pastoralists to acquire a broader range of food and other resources while farmers are able to acquire animal labor without the ongoing overhead of feeding and keeping the animals after the produce is harvested.

Transportation

Because pastoral societies frequently move large quantities of livestock and goods across land, they have often been tapped to transport items and correspondence for individuals who lack the ability to cover that distance themselves. Consequently, pastoralists sometimes function as a type of trade caravan, whereby they transfer or transport products, documents, or even people across regions that are geographically remote or politically and environmentally hostile in exchange for money or goods. This is particularly common in areas where the expansion of cities and trade routes has begun to spill into areas once used exclusively by pastoralists.

Labor

Most pastoralist societies are patriarchal societies in which men and women have clearly defined roles. Men usually own, trade, and care for animals, while women primarily care for children, household responsibilities, and other domestic chores. Thus, the division of labor in pastoral societies is generally a function of gender and age. Increasingly, however, pastoral societies are engaging in other productive activities, such as making products for sale or trade and hunting and fishing. In addition, as certain breeds of livestock become highly profitable in the marketplace, careful breeding and reproduction techniques become vital, and thus pastoralists devote increasing attention to these efforts. The following sections will describe some of the most frequent labor activities of pastoral societies.

Making Products for Sale or Trade

Pastoral societies are largely self-sufficient, in that they are generally able to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for their families from the food and goods that they grow or make from their livestock and animal products. However, most pastoral societies have traditionally also sold or traded goods for a wider variety of foodstuffs or for items that they could not make themselves. Because meat and dairy products are readily obtainable in pastoral societies but less accessible in agricultural regions, pastoralists generally have been able to sell or trade meat, dairy, and animal products for grains and produce.

Hunting & Fishing

Although pastoralists may hunt for food when necessary, pastoral societies rarely view hunting as a sport, largely because the societies already have significant access to meat and other protein sources, and thus are less inclined to expend the energy needed to obtain more of these food sources. However, certain wild species that are highly valued in local markets may be hunted by pastoralists to be sold live or for their pelts. Thus, hunting is one form of labor that pastoral societies may engage in as a means of subsidizing their economic means or supplement their food sources if needed.

In addition, some pastoral societies—especially those that routinely roam or graze near large bodies of water—supplement their diets with fish and other aquatic resources. However, not all pastoral societies view aquatic life as a permissible food source, and thus fish consumption is not widespread (Food and Agriculture Organization of the Unite Nations, n.d.).

Livestock Reproduction & Breeding

Pastoralists must pay close attention to the reproduction and breeding patterns of their livestock and herds. Because of the harsh conditions in which the animals often graze, pastoralists breed their animals to survive and produce even in severe environments. The result is that the most hearty livestock are developed over time, although these livestock may not possess certain characteristics that a given market demands, such as tender meat or tasty milk. Thus, pastoralists must carefully control the reproduction and breeding of their herds to create a balanced livestock that can withstand extreme environmental conditions and yet still maintain certain marketable features.

Issues

Pastoral societies, though once vast and numerous, have fallen prey in the modern era to the rise of developed and urban civilizations and face ongoing challenges to survive. The environmental movement has prompted governments to seize lands that were once roamed by pastoralists and their herds to be used as sanctuaries for preserving endangered wildlife species. Still other land has been altered in search of subterranean natural resources or developed to accommodate creeping urban sprawl. The following sections explain how competing uses of the land have affected pastoralists and their societies.

Pastoralists & the Environment

Pastoralists have been increasingly targeted by environmentalists as being responsible for such detrimental effects as overgrazing, desertification, and increased methane emissions. This is in part because the twentieth century brought enhanced veterinary care, providing an incentive for pastoralists to increase herd sizes, which resulted in enhanced grazing pressure. In addition, heavy grazing can promote the spread of woody vegetation and the eradication of grassy areas (Blench, 2001). Over time, cattle herds that graze in increasing numbers gradually change the pattern of vegetation on ranges and grasslands until they become almost unusable as a habitat for livestock.

Government attempts to force pastoralists to decrease their herd sizes have not been particularly successful, largely because pastoralists view their livestock, especially cattle, as an indicia of wealth and prestige. Powerful, well-established pastoralists are those with the largest herds. In addition, given the uncertainty of success in the face of potential diseases and environmental extremes, pastoralists view large herds as a type of insurance, in that the greater the number of animals they possess the smaller the likelihood that they will sustain a total loss in a disaster. Scientists and environmental experts are working with governments and the leaders of various pastoral societies to explain the benefits of promoting environmental well-being, but many long-standing pastoral traditions are deeply entrenched in the customs and cultures of these groups.

Competing Uses of the World's Rangelands

Historically, pastoralists were often left undisturbed to roam and graze the land, protected by the remoteness and inaccessibility of their habitat. However, the development of motorized all-terrain vehicles has enabled corporations and governments to transport the resources necessary to construct mining and drilling sites to locations that were once too isolated to mine. In addition, new technological devices make it possible to detect the presence of mineral resources beneath the earth's surface, thus increasing the rate at which these resources are being exploited. Similarly, governments even in developing countries are facing global pressure to declare vast tracts of land wildlife reserves, thereby eliminating regions traditionally used by pastoral societies for grazing cattle. As a result of these factors, pastoralists are increasingly competing for use of the world's rangelands.

Maintaining Biodiversity

Livestock Biodiversity

An issue of relatively recent interest is the conservation of livestock biodiversity. Breeds of livestock can disappear for a variety of reasons, such as changing economic, ecological, or social conditions or simply because of a lack of understanding of the importance of preserving a diverse livestock population. While new breeds can be created, especially by large livestock companies and through careful research and planning, a breed with prime genetic characteristics that have evolved over centuries cannot be replaced in a generation or two by a modern breed. If local breeds of livestock disappear, this eliminates the possibility of the breeds' best characteristics being bred into future offspring. Also, when communities replace one breed with another or no longer keep livestock in order to focus on cultivating crops, certain breeds may diminish or even disappear. Thus, since the early 1990s, companies, governments and even pastoralists themselves have begun to take a closer look at maintaining healthy livestock biodiversity (Blench, 2001).

Rangeland Biodiversity

Just as the preservation of livestock biodiversity is becoming critical, maintaining the rangelands that most pastoralists inhabit is also becoming a pressing concern in many regions of the world. Rangelands, like livestock, reflect the result of centuries of human activity, and cannot be altered or replenished in short periods of time. Although the loss of rangelands is not as visible as the erosion of vast tracts of forests, these regions play an important role in supporting the subsistence of pastoral societies and in providing food for households around the world. However, while the grazing patterns of livestock and herds can be controlled, rangelands do not stop at national borders. Thus, conservation of biodiversity in grasslands involves the cooperation of many different groups, “including pastoralists, ranchers, farmers, local and national governments, and international bodies” (Blench, 2001, p. 56).

Conclusion

Pastoral societies represent one of the most ancient forms of civilization, yet modern forms of pastoralism persist. These societies are frequently closely knit and patriarchal, with men and women maintaining clearly defined and traditional roles. In addition, because of the interdependence of pastoralists, social rules are enforced and traditions preserved through threats of ostracism and disenfranchisement, as well as through positive reinforcement. Although pastoral societies historically have been economically self-sufficient, they are increasingly engaging in trade and commerce. Modern pastoralists are also developing better abilities to protect land tenure and ownership rights, sell animals and animal products, and trade within local, regional, and international markets. In addition, pastoralists increasingly are supplementing their diets and trade opportunities with prey caught while hunting and fishing. While careful breeding and reproduction techniques have long been important to the success of pastoral societies, these techniques are becoming even more critical as a means of maintaining biodiversity and preserving livestock with the best genetic traits. Although modern pastoral societies continue to inhabit various regions of the world, they are facing a number of challenges in the forms of various environmental efforts, competing usages of the world's rangelands, and the protections being implemented to preserve certain animal breeds and grasslands.

Terms & Concepts

Adaptation: The ability of a sociocultural system to change according the demands of a shifting physical or social environment.

Agrarian Societies: Societies whose mode of production is based on agriculture, growing crops primarily through only the use of human and animal energy.

Artifact: A preserved object made by humans that is studied in order to learn about a particular time period.

Biodiversity: The number, variety, and genetic variation of different organisms found within a specified geographic region. There are three types of biodiversity: ecosystem diversity describes the variety of habitats present; species diversity is a measure of the number of species and the number of individuals of each species present; and genetic diversity refers to the total amount of genetic variability present.

Conservation: The careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.

Cultivation: The act of raising or growing plants, particularly on a large scale, to promote the growth of a culture or people.

Drought: An extended period of abnormally low rainfall that adversely affects growing or living conditions.

Ecosystem: A collection of living things and the environment in which they live.

Indigenous: Originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native.

Land Tenure: The right to the exclusive occupancy and use of a specified area of land; part of an ancient hierarchical system of holding lands.

Land Use: The identification and classification of land for use according to various purposes, such as agriculture, preservation, or development.

Livestock: Any animals kept for use or profit.

Natural Resources: The natural wealth of a country or region, consisting of land, forests, mineral deposits, water, and other naturally occurring elements.

Nomads: An indigenous group or tribe that moves seasonally from place to place, often following a traditional route or circuit according to the availability of the pasturage or food supply.

Pastoral Societies: Societies in which people domesticate cattle, camels, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, and reindeer. Such societies first emerged about 10,000 years ago. Domesticating animals increases the food supply and makes it more dependable. This increases average settlement size and permanence, the division of labor, productivity, and inequality above the levels typical of foraging societies.

Territory: An area of land that is under the jurisdiction of a government or recognized as being under the use, control, and occupation of a defined group of individuals.

Bibliography

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Davies, J. & Bennett, R. (2007). Livelihood adaptation to risk: Constraints and opportunities for pastoral development in Ethiopia's Afar region. Journal of Development Studies, 43 , 490–511. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24436814&site=ehost-live

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (n.d.). Introduction: Pastoral systems worldwide. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/Y2647E/y2647e02.htm#P8_3480

Gill, N. (2005). Aboriginal pastoralism, social embeddedness, and cultural continuity in Central Australia Society & Natural Resources, 18 , 699–714. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18256195&site=ehost-live

Frachetti, M. D. (2012). Multiregional emergence of mobile pastoralism and non uniform institutional complexity across Eurasia. Current Anthropology, 53, 2–38. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=71100777

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Jackson, C., Dirsuweit, T., Chauvet, L., Aubertin, C., & Rodary, E. (2010). Protected areas, sustainable land?. Farnham, England: Ashgate. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=398291&site=ehost-live

Moritz, M. (2012). Pastoral intensification in West Africa: Implications for sustainability. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 18, 418–438. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=74714023

Namgail, T., Veer B., Mishra, C. & Bagchi, S. (2007) Pastoral nomads of the Indian Changthang: Production system landuse and socioeconomic changes. Human Ecology: A Interdisciplinary Journal, 35 , 497–504. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25335461&site=ehost-live

O'Neil, D. (2007). Pastoralism. Patterns of subsistence: Classification of cultures based on the sources and techniques of acquiring food and other necessities. Retrieved March 12, 2009 from Palomar College, http://anthro.palomar.edu/subsistence/sub_3.ht

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Warren, D., Slikkerveer, L., & Brokensha, D. (1995). The cultural dimension of development . London, England: Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd.

Suggested Reading

Flintan, F. (2006). Combating marginalisation of pastoralist women: SOS Sahel's experience in Ethiopia. Gender & Development, 14 , 223–233. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=22018254&site=ehost-live

Gertel, J., & Le Heron, R. (Eds.). (2011). Economic spaces of pastoral production and commodity systems: Markets and livelihoods. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=401297&site=ehost-live

Homewood, K. (2006). As pastoralists settle: Social, health and economic consequences of pastoral sedentarization in Marsabit District, Kenya. Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal 34 , 297–299. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=21806272&site=ehost-live

Spaulding, J. (2006). Pastoralism, slavery, commerce culture and the fate of the Nubians of Northern and Central Kordofan under Dar Fur Rule, ca. 1750–ca. 1850 International Journal of African Historical Studies, 39 , 393–412. Retrieved March 23, 2008 from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25116827&site=ehost-live

Steinfeld, H. (2010). Livestock in a changing landscape. Washington, DC: Island Press. Retrieved October 29, 2013 from EBSCO Online Database eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=385975&site=ehost-live