Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

Engaged Research Can Advance Knowledge And Promote Positive Change Among The Rural Poor, D. L. Coppock

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There is increasing interest in investigative processes known as “Engaged Research.” Such approaches include aspects of Farming Systems Research & Extension, Participatory Rural Appraisal, Participatory Action Research, and Innovation Systems. Engaged Research—a term recently popular in the USA—is founded on long-term relationships among stakeholders and emphasizes problem-solving based on co-production of knowledge. We are now at a time when science-based knowledge should be implemented to improve the lives of the rural poor under the triple threat of poverty, natural resource degradation, and climate change. Traditional ways of conducting applied, academic study can be reconfigured to this end, improving research effectiveness …

The Impacts Of The Eco-Environmental Policy On Grassland Degradation And Livestock Production: An Empirical Analysis Based On The Simultaneous Equation Model, M. Liu, J. J. Tang, S. Min, J. K. Huang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grassland degradation has been deteriorating while the demands for meat products have been surging in China over the past few decades, leading to multiple policy initiatives to balance the grassland ecosystem and livestock production of the pastoral areas. This paper investigates the impacts of a prevailing eco-environmental program, i.e. Subsidy and Incentive System for Grassland Conservation (SISGC), in the pastoral areas of Inner Mongolia, on grassland condition and livestock production. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), measured with remote sensing technology, is used to quantify grassland condition. Our empirical analysis was based on the data of 52 counties across a …

Feed Markets In The Late Dry Season Across Agro-Ecological Zones In Burkina Faso, A. Ayantunde, E. Doamba, M. Hebie, D. Sogoba, R. Same, M. Blummel

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Limited access to adequate quantities of high-quality feed is a major constraint to livestock productivity in smallholder systems in the West African Sahel. As a result of the increase in the livestock population and the associated growth in the demand for feeds, feed markets have sprung up in many cities and towns in the region. However, there is little available information on price variations for different feed types across agro-ecological zones in Burkina Faso. Information on feed price and quality is essential to developing strategies to match feed supply with demand. Surveys on the price and quality of feeds at …

Large Scale Land Investments And Food Security In Agro-Pastoral Areas Of Ethiopia, Adugna Eneyew Bekele, Liesbeth Dries, Wim Heijman, Dusan Drabik

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There is an ongoing debate about the impact of large scale land investments on the livelihoods of rural households in developing countries. This study investigates the impact of large scale land investments on households' food security in Ethiopia. The findings show proximity to large scale land investments is associated with higher food intake with an average treatment effect of 744.71 kcal per day per adult. This is mainly because of the availability relatively good natural capitals near to large scale land investments. Large scale land investments should make sure that the local community has access to grazing to improve food …

Climate Change Policy Narratives And Pastoralist Predicaments In The Horn Of Africa: Insights From Ethiopia And Kenya, T. Campbell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Drawing on the findings of a two-country case study, this paper examines the discourses and narratives found in contemporary climate change and national development policy in Ethiopia and Kenya, the actors shaping those policy narratives, and in turn, their consequences for pastoralism. The research reveals that while concerns around climate change and calls for strengthening resilience of dryland communities have given a new impetus to pastoral development, old arguments and assumptions that depict pastoral areas, and pastoralists, as unproductive and in need of modernisation remain deeply embedded in policy making. These open up spaces for the state, investors, and local …

The Role Of Women In Rural Livestock: Which Women? Which Livestock?, Gabriela Litre, Daniela Nogueira, Alessandra Matte, Virginia Courdin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

We explore the conceptual and empirical limitations of the question about “the role of women in rural livestock production” as well as the widespread assumption that women in livestock are subsistence or smallholder farmers. While this is correct in many situations, “essentialist” development discourses often disregard new demographic trends and the heterogeneity of live-stock production systems. Our research, which focuses on the livelihoods of women involved with livestock production in the Pampas’ grasslands of Brazil, proposes: 1) to critically analyse some of the most widely spread assumptions about women involved in beef livestock production, including the belief that women are …

Sustainable Management Of Grassland In A Changing Social-Ecological System: A Case Study In China, Ping Li, Rong Zhi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Shift In Management Strategy Of Yak Herding In The South Of Mustang District, Nepal, Himalaya, H. Anzai, M. K. Shah, Hajime Kumagai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the Himalayan regions of Nepal, people herd yaks (Bos grunniens) under transhumant pastoralism, seasonal migrations of herds between summer highlands and winter lowlands. For several decades, the number of yaks has decreased, and the management strategy of yak herding has been altered due to the influence of substantial changes in both the social environment and their livelihoods. We conducted field surveys on yak herding in the south of Mustang District from 2012 to 2016 to examine the recent shift in management strategy and practice. The surveys were focused on fifteen yak owners and their herdsmen who lived …

Valuing The Expertise Of Mobile Herders In Arid South Africa--A Photographic Essay, C. F. Cupido, W. Ellis, M. I. Samuels

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Pastoralism has been practiced for millennia in numerous ecosystems across the world. Throughout history, pastoral systems and in particular herding have been replaced by the commercialization of livestock production, which essentially made herders redundant in many sub-Sahara countries resulting in job losses. Herding is however still practiced in many countries, but the essential role of the herder is in many instances snubbed upon and disregarded as trivial work, hence their low social standing within the community. Literature however indicates that herding does offer many benefits over commercial paddock systems e.g. improving rural livelihoods, reviving customary practice, reducing stock theft, reducing …

Exploring Institutional Complementarity And Social Thresholds Of Mobility In Pastoral Social-Ecological Systems In Mongolia, Ulan Kasymov, Irene Ring

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Biodiversity continues to decline worldwide, affecting dryland ecosystems that are of significant importance for global biodiversity conservation. Accelerated by climate change, undergoing transformations have been pushing the entire social-ecological system across ecological and social thresholds. Particularly, the decline of pastoral mobility in Mongolia is of great concern, as flexible responses to the dynamic environment are crucial for the sustainability of drylands’ ecosystems. Responding to this concern, Mongolian policymakers design new pasture use and conservation policies. However, the policies might be ineffective in preventing systems from crossing the thresholds, unless policy implementation succeeds in systematically shaping the perceptions of a critical …

Transdisciplinary Research In Practice: Lessons From Participatory, Folklore And Community-Supported Approaches In The Greater American West, H. Wilmer, L. Carr Childers, L. M. Porensky

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rapid social and ecological changes on global rangelands amplify the challenges to achieving biodiversity conservation, rural economic viability and social well-being, and rangeland sustainability. These dynamics create a need for transdisciplinary science that is inclusive of ecological, sociological, and participatory approaches in order to rebuild meaningful working relationships between scientists, ranchers and managers, and other rangeland stakeholders. In real application, however, transdisciplinary science faces numerous social, ethical, and logistical challenges, including the question of how the work might benefit rangeland stakeholders. Our objective is to advance rangeland researchers’ toolbox for meaningful engaged research by describing three lessons from transdisciplinary projects …

Towards A Holistic Understanding Of Pastoralism, M. Cabeza, P. Manzano, D. Burgas, L. Cadahía, J. Eronen, Á. Fernández-Llamazares, S. Bencherif, Ø. Holand, M. Fortelius, O. Seitsonen, María E. Fernández-Giménez, K. A. Galvin, N. Chr. Stenseth

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Pastoralism is a globally-important livelihood, with large social, environmental and economic importance across much of our planet. Yet, it is also a vulnerable practice with widespread crises, urgently calling for better systemic understanding. The current disciplinary compartmentalization of research not only hampers this but allows perpetuation of unfortunate misconceptions. Furthermore, a long-standing marginalization of the livelihood prevails, with pastoralism being largely overlooked in international environmental and economic forums or sustainability agendas.

Here we call for transformative approaches to pastoralism research that can advance an integrated understanding of these social-ecological systems through a comparative lens. We develop a framework that uses: …

Pastoral Traditional Ecological Knowledge Dynamicity: A Global Review, A. Sharifian Bahraman, Á. Fernández-Llamazares, H. Wario, Z. Molnár, M. Cabeza

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There is a significant knowledge gap concerning the extent to which pastoral traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has changed. We conducted a systematic review of 152 papers on pastoral TEK, focusing specifically on 63 papers that explicitly mentioned types of knowledge transitions (retention, erosion, adaptation or hybridization). Studies on pastoral TEK represent less than 3% of all the scholarly literature on TEK. Geographical distribution of the case studies was largely biased. Knowledge domains of pastoral TEK such as herd and livestock management, forage and medicinal plants, and landscape and wildlife were relatively equally covered, however, climate-related knowledge was less studied. Out …

Action Plan For The International Year Of Rangelands And Pastoralists (Iyrp): The Case For The United States, Canada, And Mexico, Barry Irving, Larry Howery, Jürgen Hoth, Jess Peterson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The GAP analysis (A Case of Benign Neglect: Knowledge gaps about sustainability in rangelands and pastoralism) points to several gaps that are relevant to the US, Canada and Mexico. North American rangelands span the ecological continuum of polar to hot deserts and arid to humid climates that exhibit highly variable ecological and forage production potential across time and space. Although there is a great deal of rangeland research, extension, and inventory capacity in all three countries, a weak link is the dissemination of information to North American pastoralists (conventionally referred to as ranchers or producers). Although the extension system in …

Rangelands And Pastoralism Of The Middle-East And North Africa, From Reality To Dream, N. Naghizadeh, Hossein Badripour, Mounir Louhaichi, M. Gamoun, Maryam Niamir-Fuller

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a vast area covering 20 countries from western Asia to North Africa, with nearly 9,000,000 Km2 and 303 million hectares of total rangelands. Rangelands play an essential role in supporting people's livelihoods and food security. Mobile pastoralism is the most viable and resilient form of production and land use in the fragile drylands of MENA. The region's governments have considered mobile pastoralism as backwards mainly because it was difficult to deliver mobile services to them. They designed various policies that were not in harmony with pastoralists' customary rules and norms and severely …

Challenges Of Pastoralism And Rangelands In Europe, P. Manzano

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

High Human Development achievements across Europe explain the situation of pastoralism in the region. While its economic importance has dwindled over the last century in terms of livelihood provision, pastoralism is nonetheless key for supporting rural population - especially in the areas of lower agricultural potential - and for delivering ecosystem services in vast areas. The mainstreaming of scientific research means that pastoralism is increasingly recognized as a sustainable livelihood by the European general public. In spite of this better press, the advanced average age of European pastoralists and the increased gender imbalances pose great sustainability risks in the short- …

Priority Themes And Issues For The International Year Of Rangelands And Pastoralists, Maryam Niamir-Fuller, James T. O’Rourke, Barbara Hutchinson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The objective of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism (IYRP) is to increase world-wide awareness and recognition of the value and contributions of rangelands and pastoralists. The aim is to influence country policies, legislation, and programs; and to encourage development, research, extension and educational initiatives that will lead to sustainability of rangelands and pastoral/livestock systems. Although each country should decide on how they would celebrate the IYRP, the adoption of a global framework of 12 monthly themes will help to a) provide suggestions and ideas, b) highlight urgent and topical issues, and c) show how pastoralism and rangelands across …

Priority Areas For Action And Research On Pastoralism And Rangelands In Eastern Africa, M. O. Odhiambo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There is an element of irony around pastoralism and research in Eastern Africa. While it is one of the most researched production and livelihood systems, pastoralism is also the least understood by policymakers and development actors, with discussions about its importance characterized by significant gaps in knowledge. What is more, policy actors have difficulties accessing empirical data specific to pastoralism and rangelands in a form that allows well-founded decision-making on policy and action. Most available data tend to be out of date and not disaggregated with reference to pastoralism and rangelands. As a result, much of the discourse around pastoralism …

Rangelands And Pastoralism In Central Asia And Mongolia: Challenges And Perspectives, T. Ulambayar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock herding contributes 10-45% of national GDPs across the Central Asia and Mongolia (CAM) region while supporting the livelihood of nearly one-third of the region’s population. Over 171 million herds graze the region's rangelands, occupying 65-73% of the territories in Central Asia (CA) and Mongolia. Traditional pastoralism has been affected dramatically by climate change. For the last decades, the annual mean air temperature has risen two to three times higher than the global average in CA and Mongolia respectively. Annual precipitation has a decreasing trend over the same period, causing increased aridity, a decline in lakes and rivers leading to …

Changing Perceptions Of Rangelands And Pastoralists Through Multistakeholder Action Before And During The Iyrp, A. Waters-Bayer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP) should draw attention to rangelands and pastoralists and their economic, social, cultural and environmental contributions to global wellbeing. The “gap analysis” by UN Environment revealed much ignorance and misperceptions about rangelands and pastoralism among national governments, international institutions and the general public.

The IYRP campaign seeks to foster better understanding of how rangelands are used in an ecologically sound and resource-efficient way, e.g. through mobile pastoralism. It seeks to raise awareness of the importance of rangelands and pastoralists among policymakers. It seeks to encourage investment in the rangelands and related policy support, …