Socioeconomic and Ecological Transitions of Pastoral System in Semi-arid Areas of Rift Valley, Fentale District, Ethiopia
الموضوعات :
Fikrineh Negash
1
(Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box 35, Batu, Ethiopia)
الکلمات المفتاحية: Diversification, Livelihood, Intensification, drivers, Karrayu,
ملخص المقالة :
Pastoralism contributes significantly to the national economy and livelihoods of pastoralists in Ethiopia. However, socio-ecologically considerable variations exist between pastoral systems of the country in terms of the drivers they are currently experiencing and the impact of these drivers. This study was conducted in Fentale district, Ethiopia, to understand the perceived transitions of the pastoral system and the key factors driving this transition over the last two decades. Data were collected through a household survey (n = 60), focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The results showed that the decline in livestock holding per household (4.90) and livestock mobility (4.41), expansion of cultivation (4.83), degradation of rangeland (4.79), and migration (4.26) were perceived to occur. The perceived transformations in the pastoral system were primarily driven by population growth (4.81), land (4.76) and water shortage (4.29), adoption of cultivation (4.67), and climate change (3.78). The complex nature of pastoral development makes the isolation of root causes of transformation in the pastoral systems more difficult. The combined effects of the observed transitions and their drivers had been driving pastoralists into non-livestock-based livelihood strategies. Such diversification indicated that livestock alone would not sustainably maintain the livelihood of pastoralists. The intensification of livestock production is also being adopted by pastoralists as a coping strategy for the perceived transitions. The pastoral system needs to be supported by policies that are consistent with existing situations and future expectations. Therefore, an enabling policy environment considering livestock intensification and economic diversification need to put into place. However, a holistic understanding of a pastoral system and its transition and the likely trade-offs associated with different livelihood strategies in this system is a prerequisite.
Abule, E., Snyman, H. A., Smit, G. N., 2005. Comparisons of pastoralists perceptions about rangeland resource utilization in the Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia. Journal of Environmental Management, 75(1): 21–35.
Abule, E., Snyman, H. A., Smit, G. N., 2007. Rangeland evaluation in the middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia: I.
Herbaceous vegetation cover. Journal of Arid Environment, 70(2): 253-271.
Adriansen, H. K., 2006. Continuity and change in pastoral livelihoods of Senegalese Fulani. Agriculture and Human Values, 23: 215–229.
Angassa, A., Oba, G., 2007. Relating long-term rainfall variability to cattle population dynamics in communal rangelands and a government ranch in southern Ethiopia. Agricultural Systems, 94(3): 715–725.
Ayantunde, A. A., de Leeuw, J., Turner, M. D., Said, M., 2011. Challenges of assessing the sustainability of (agro)-pastoral systems. Livestock Science, 139(1-2): 30–43.
Belay, E. A., 2009. Growing lake with growing problems: integrated hydrogeological investigation on Lake Beseka, Ethiopia. Ph.D. Dissertation, Institute of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany. 174 pp.
Beyene, S., 2012. Livelihood diversification among the pastoral and agro-pastoral groups in the upper Awash Valley, Ethiopia. Journal of Human Ecology, 39(3), 241–253.
Burnsilver, S. B., 2009. Pathways of continuity and change: Maasai livelihoods in Amboseli, Kajiado District, Kenya. In Staying Maasai?: Livelihoods, conservation and development in East African rangelands; Homewood, K. et al. Eds., Springer, Dordrecht. 161–207 pp.
BurnSilver, S. B., Jeffrey, W., Randall B. B., 2008. Processes of fragmentation in the Amboseli ecosystem, Southern Kajiado District, Kenya. In Fragmentation in semi-arid and arid landscapes: Consequences for human and natural; Galvin, K. et al. Eds., Springer, Dordrecht. 225–253 pp.
Coppock, D. L., 1994. The Borana Plateau of Southern Ethiopia: Synthesis of Pastoral Research, Development and Change 1980-91. Systems Study No. 5. International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa. 374 pp.
CSA., 1996. The 1994 population and housing census of Ethiopia: Statistical report for Oromia region. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Office of Population Census Commission. Central Statistics Authority (CSA). Addis Ababa. 1660 pp.
CSA., 2008. Summary and statistical report of the 2007 population and housing census. Population size by age and sex. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Population Census Commission. Central Statistics Agency (CSA). Addis Ababa. 113 pp.
Davies, J., Niamir-Fuller, M., Kerven, C., Bauer, K., 2010. Extensive livestock production in transition: The future of sustainable pastoralism. In Livestock in a Changing Landscape. Volume 1: Drivers, Consequences, and Responses. Steinfeld, H. et al. Eds., Island Press, Washington. 285–308 pp.
Desta, S., Coppock, D. L., 2002. Cattle population dynamics in the southern Ethiopian rangelands, 1980-97. Journal of Range Management, 55(5): 439–451.
Desta, S., Coppock, D. L., 2004. Pastoralism under pressure: Tracking system change in southern Ethiopia. Human Ecology, 32: 465–486.
Ekaya, W. N., 2005. The shift from mobile pastoralism to sedentary crop-livestock farming in drylands of eastern Africa: Some issues and challenges for research. African Crop Science Conference Proceedings, 7: 1513-1519.
Elias, E., 2008. Pastoralists in southern Ethiopia: Dispossession, access to resources and dialogue with policymakers. DCG Report N0. 53. 39 pp.
Elias, E., 2014. Environmental rights and pastoral livelihoods: The case of Borena and Kaarrayu pastoralists in Ethiopia. Journal of Environment and Earth Science, 4(21): 146–156.
Fratkin, E., Mearns, R., 2003. Sustainability and pastoral livelihoods: Lessons from East African Maasai and Mongolia. Human Organization, 62: 112–122.
Galvin, K. A., Thornton, P. K., Boone, R. B., Sunderland, J., 2004. Climate variability and impacts on east African livestock herders: The Maasai of Ngorongoro conservation area, Tanzania. African Journal of Range and Forage Science, 21: 182–189.
Galvin, K. A., Boone, R. B., Smith, N. M., Lynn, S. J., 2001. Impacts of climate variability on East African pastoralists: Linking social science and remote sensing. Climate Research, 19: 161–172.
Galvin, K. A., 2009. Transitions: Pastoralists living with change. Annual Review of Anthropology, 38: 185–198.
Gebru, G., Alemayehu, N., Ebro, A., Ayele, G., Beyene, S., 2007. Pastoral livelihoods in Afar and Kereyu: The case of pastoral communities in and around Awash National Park. 15th Annual Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 4-6, 2007. ESAP, Addis Ababa. 58-76 pp.
IBM SPSS., 2011. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows. Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.
Jahnke, H. E., 1982. Livestock production systems and livestock development in tropical Africa. Wissenschaftsverlag Vauk: Germany. 254 pp.
Kassahun, A., Snyman, H.A., Smit, G.N., 2008. Impact of rangeland degradation on the pastoral production systems, livelihoods, and perceptions of the Somali pastoralists in Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments, 72: 1265–1281.
Mccabe, J. T., Leslie, P. W., Deluca, L., 2010. Adopting cultivation to remain pastoralists: The diversification of Maasai livelihoods in Northern Tanzania. Human Ecology, 38: 321–334.
Mengistu, A., 2007. Directions in pastoral and agro-pastoral research and development in Ethiopia. 15th Annual Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP). October 4-6, 2007. ESAP, Addis Ababa. 1-17 pp.
Moritz, M., 2008. Competing paradigms in pastoral development? A perspective from the Far North of Cameroon. World Development, 36: 2243–2254.
Müller-Mahn, D., Rettberg, S., Getachew, G., 2010. Pathways and dead ends of pastoral development among the Afar and Karrayu in Ethiopia. European Journal of Development Research, 22: 660–677.
Niamir-Fuller, M., 1998. The resilience of pastoral herding in Sahelian Africa. In Linking social and ecological systems: Management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Berkes, F. et al. Eds., Cambridge University Press, New York. 250–284 pp.
Niamir-Fuller, M., 1999. Managing mobility in African rangelands. In Property rights, risk, and livestock development in Africa. Mccarthy, N. et al. Eds., International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington. 102–131 pp.
Nyariki, D. M., Mwang, A. W., Thompson, D. M., 2009. Land-use change and livestock production challenges in an integrated system: The Masai-Mara ecosystem, Kenya. Journal of Human Ecology, 26(3): 163–173.
Oba, G., (2011). Mobility and the sustainability of the pastoral production system in Africa: Perspectives of contrasting paradigms. Paper presented at the International Conference on the Future of Pastoralism. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21–23 March 2011. 21 pp.
Prior, J., 1994. Pastoral development planning. Development Guidelines No. 9. Oxford: UK and Ireland. 160 pp.
Rettberg, S., 2010. Contested narratives of pastoral vulnerability and risk in Ethiopia's Afar region. Pastoralism, 1(2): 248–273.
Rufino, M. C., Thornton, P. K., Ng, S. K., Mutie, I., Jones, P. G., Wijk, M. T. Van, Herrero, M., 2013. Transitions in agro-pastoralist systems of East Africa: Impacts on food security and poverty. Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment, 179: 215–230.
Schmidt, M., Pearson, O., 2016. Pastoral livelihoods under pressure: Ecological, political and socioeconomic transitions in Afar (Ethiopia). Journal of Arid Environments, 124: 22–30.
Seré, C., Ayantunde, A., Duncan, A., Freeman, A., Herrero, M., Tarawali, S., Wright, I., 2008. Livestock production and poverty alleviation-challenges and opportunities in arid and semi-arid tropical rangeland based systems. Proceedings of the International IGC–IRC 2008 Congress, China, and Mongolia. 19-26 pp.
Solomon, T. B., Snyman, H. A., Smit, G. N., 2007. Cattle-rangeland management practices and perceptions of pastoralists towards rangeland degradation in the Borana zone of southern Ethiopia. Journal of Environmental Management, 82(4): 481–494.
Steinfels, H., Wassenaar, T., Jutzi, S., 2006. Livestock production systems in developing countries: status, drivers, trends. Scientific and Technical Review of the Office International des Epizooties, 25: 505–516.
Tsegaye, D., Vedeld, P., Moe, S. R., 2013. Pastoralists and livelihoods: A case study from northern Afar, Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments, 91: 138-146.
Tsegaye, D., Moe, S. R., Vedeld, P., Aynekulu, E., 2010. Land-use/cover dynamics in Northern Afar rangelands, Ethiopia. Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment, 139(1-2): 174–180.
Wario, H. T., Roba, H. G., Kaufmann, B., 2016. Responding to mobility constraints: Recent shifts in resource use practices and herding strategies in the Borana pastoral system, southern Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments, 127: 222–234.
Yemane, B., 2003. The declining pastoral environment, vulnerability status, and adaptation strategy. 10th Annual Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP)., August 22-24, 2002. ESAP, Addis Ababa. 155-163 pp.
Yosef, T., Mengistu, U., Solomon, A., Mohammed, Y. K., Kefelegn, K., 2013. Camel and cattle population dynamics and livelihood diversification as a response to climate change in pastoral areas of Ethiopia. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 25: 9.
