Trained as a social anthropologist and worked for 40 years as an applied research socio-economist in agricultural and livestock development, in Africa and former Soviet Central Asia. Special interest and experience in pastoralism - the management and marketing of livestock in semi-arid areas of the world. Editor-in-Chief since 2009 of international peer-reviewed Journal "Pastoralism - research, policy and practice" open access published by SpringerNature. Address: England
MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dair... more MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dairying to pastoral economies is often overlooked. This study of the nomadic pastoral system in South Darfur shows that milk not only meets 25% of a pastoral family's caloric requirements, but also has an important exchange value. Bartering dairy produce enables pastoralists to grow less crops and concentrate on herd management, while the cash generated through dairy sales is partly used to purchase food grains, thus helping to forestall sales of live animals until the late dry season, and in drought years, to avert the depletion of the breeding stock. The author concludes that the role of milk as a source of income in pastoral economies can be enhanced by introducing more advanced milk processing techniques such as cheese-making, which would allow seasonally surplus milk to be used more efficiently.
This review examines the role of animal milk in pastoral economies and diets. It then considers p... more This review examines the role of animal milk in pastoral economies and diets. It then considers project interventions that have sought to increase the supply or commercial value of milk from animals in pastoralist regions. The degree to which pastoralists' diets depend on milk to meet nutritional requirements, either by direct consumption or through exchange for grains, varies across climatic zones and according to animal species, techniques for preservation, market access, and wealth status. Milk supplies are the outcome of the lactation periodicities of the livestock species kept, which are geared to temporal vegetation fl uxes, mainly an outcome of climatic conditions. The bulk of detailed studies on pastoral milk production, diet and sales are from eastern Africa. Reference is also made to other pastoral regions of the world where information is available.
Rangelands cover 69% of the world's agricultural land (FAOStats 2009) and around 40% of all globa... more Rangelands cover 69% of the world's agricultural land (FAOStats 2009) and around 40% of all global land surfaces, providing habitats for domestic livestock, wild plants and wild animals (du Toit et al. 2010). Rangelands are therefore globally important and are some of the last, great wild lands. They are important for conservation as many of them continue to sustain wildlife outside of national parks but are under no formal protection. Amongst the millions of people also supported there, many are very poor and dependent on access to land for their livestock (Wrobel and Redford 2010, p. 2). Over these large land areas, there are broad as well as quite intricate interactions between all the species, including humans. The rangelands are used by pastoralists, a primarily dependent on income from their livestock, principally reliant on grazing pastures, within extensive land use systems having low human and livestock population densities and using relatively low levels of inputs compared to other agricultural production systems (Robinson et al. 2011; Thornton et al. 2002). Extensive livestock-keeping still dominates the terrestrial landscape, in areas where alternative forms of production are inhibited by limitations of climate and terrain, although that has not prevented other resource users (e.g. irrigated and rainfed cropping, housing development, mineral extraction) from expanding into the so-called marginal lands. Low land use pressure under pastoralism has allowed higher densities and diversities of wildlife, enabled to share the same areas as people and their livestock, as compared to other major land uses such as cropping and urbanization. As global incomes rise, demand is accelerating for livestock products of meat and milk, leading to strong economic incentives to intensify livestock production in the rangelands (Steinfeld et al. 2010). The force of demand is accompanied by policy subsidies and private sector enterprises, as intensified livestock systems are frequently viewed as more modern, technically advanced and higher-yielding, compared to extensive pastoralism. These trends are increasing pressure on extensive pastures and rangelands, impacting both wildlife management and pastoralism, in high-income as well as low-income countries. But there are increasing concerns about the costs of intensive livestock production, which generates higher levels of green house gases compared to extensive pastoralism (FAO 2006; Herrero et al. 2011), as well as pollution, greater
Natural Resource Perspectives, Paper No. 1, Overseas Development Institute, London , 1994
The material that follows has been provided by Overseas Development Institute Redesigning for ris... more The material that follows has been provided by Overseas Development Institute Redesigning for risk: tracking and buffering environmental variability in Africa's rangelands "Arid and semi-arid lands cover about one-third of the earth's land surface, but nearly two-thirds of the African continent. The majority of African livestock and possibly 30 million livestock-dependent people reside in these dry zones along with the greatest and most diverse concentrations of large wild mammals in existence" (Ellis, 1994). Of the world's 20 poorest countries, many are situated here. Considerations of economic importance, environmental interest, geographical extent and human welfare suggest that African rangelands should be high on the development agenda. They are not. This paper discusses some of the reasons for neglect, and proposes some remedies.
Bulletin of the International Livestock Centre for Africa , 1987
MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dair... more MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dairying to pastoral economies is often overlooked. This study of the nomadic pastoral system in South Darfur shows that milk not only meets 25% of a pastoral family's caloric requirements, but also has an important exchange value. Bartering dairy produce enables pastoralists to grow less crops and concentrate on herd management, while the cash generated through dairy sales is partly used to purchase food grains, thus helping to forestall sales of live animals until the late dry season, and in drought years, to avert the depletion of the breeding stock. The author concludes that the role of milk as a source of income in pastoral economies can be enhanced by introducing more advanced milk processing techniques such as cheese-making, which would allow seasonally surplus milk to be used more efficiently.
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit:
Pastoral Development Network Set 34, ODI, London , 1993
In this review we explore how pastoral dairying has changed as a consequence of commercialisation... more In this review we explore how pastoral dairying has changed as a consequence of commercialisation, defined as the total or partial shift in production goals from meeting subsistence needs to producing for the market. This shift occurs when monetary exchange becomes so regular and so generalised that pastoral products are no longer solely produced for direct use by the production unit, but acquire a monetary value, realizable through market exchange. When this happens, the character of pastoral products as marketable commodities is taken into account by producers a priori, during the process of production itself. Faced with the need to produce most of what they consume, subsistenceoriented pastoralists extract a broad array of useful products from their herds. Commercially-oriented livestock producers, on the other hand, may purchase from the market most of what they need, and only produce those livestock products which are most profitable to sell. Market involvement therefore tends to narrow the range of products extracted from herds and to encourage specialization. With regards to semi-arid Africa, development planners generally view live animals for slaughter as the commercial product par excellence, while milk and dairy products are conceived of as subsistence goods which decline in importance with commercialization. Accordingly, most examinations of commercialization analyze the problems and prospects for increased meat production. In this paper we will consider the same issue of pastoral commercialization, but from the opposite direction, looking the other way down the telescope. We are concerned with what has happened when milk itself
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-39. 2006, 2006
Kazak nomads were seasonally mobile in the pre-Soviet period, in response to climate variability ... more Kazak nomads were seasonally mobile in the pre-Soviet period, in response to climate variability and landscape heterogeneity. The scale of these movements was interrupted during the Soviet period, but some degree of mobility remained. Mobility virtually ceased in the post-Soviet 1990s, but is reemerging as flock numbers rebound from the mid 1990s population crash. The paper presents results from a three-year multidisciplinary study in southeast Kazakstan, from 2000 to 2004. The study areas cover ecological transects of up to 600 km in length, which in some cases are still traversed by pastoral flocks. The transects cover desert, semi-desert, riverine, semi-steppe, foothill and sub-alpine pastures, with precipitation ranging from 150 mm to 650 mm. Results show the proportions of livestock grazed around villages and those which are seasonally mobile. Animal nutrition and economic factors associated with livestock mobility are presented. Forage assessments indicate discrepancies between available resources and their exploitation, due to decreasing mobility. Under the current grazing systems, pastures distant from settlement are now mainly unused and former integral grazing circuits have therefore become fragmented. Non-mobile livestock have lowered productivity compared to mobile livestock.
The Socio-Economic Causes and Consequences of Desertification in Central Asia.(ed) R. Behnke , 2008
Kazakh pastoralists formerly followed long-distance migratory routes each season. This was contin... more Kazakh pastoralists formerly followed long-distance migratory routes each season. This was continued with state farm support during the Soviet period. After the collapse of state farms in the mid 1990s, most pastoralists were constrained to graze their animals in circuits around villages, as they could not afford to undertake seasonal migrations. Pasture degradation has resulted. Small-scale village-based livestock owners rely on their animals mainly for subsistence. Compared to large-scale owners, they gain higher rates of economic returns per head of animal owned. Large-scale owners have returned to moving their animals to distant pastures, and their animals are heavier as a consequence. These types of owners can achieve economies of scale, but they have high actual costs of moving animals.
MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dair... more MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dairying to pastoral economies is often overlooked. This study of the nomadic pastoral system in South Darfur shows that milk not only meets 25% of a pastoral family's caloric requirements, but also has an important exchange value. Bartering dairy produce enables pastoralists to grow less crops and concentrate on herd management, while the cash generated through dairy sales is partly used to purchase food grains, thus helping to forestall sales of live animals until the late dry season, and in drought years, to avert the depletion of the breeding stock. The author concludes that the role of milk as a source of income in pastoral economies can be enhanced by introducing more advanced milk processing techniques such as cheese-making, which would allow seasonally surplus milk to be used more efficiently.
This review examines the role of animal milk in pastoral economies and diets. It then considers p... more This review examines the role of animal milk in pastoral economies and diets. It then considers project interventions that have sought to increase the supply or commercial value of milk from animals in pastoralist regions. The degree to which pastoralists' diets depend on milk to meet nutritional requirements, either by direct consumption or through exchange for grains, varies across climatic zones and according to animal species, techniques for preservation, market access, and wealth status. Milk supplies are the outcome of the lactation periodicities of the livestock species kept, which are geared to temporal vegetation fl uxes, mainly an outcome of climatic conditions. The bulk of detailed studies on pastoral milk production, diet and sales are from eastern Africa. Reference is also made to other pastoral regions of the world where information is available.
Rangelands cover 69% of the world's agricultural land (FAOStats 2009) and around 40% of all globa... more Rangelands cover 69% of the world's agricultural land (FAOStats 2009) and around 40% of all global land surfaces, providing habitats for domestic livestock, wild plants and wild animals (du Toit et al. 2010). Rangelands are therefore globally important and are some of the last, great wild lands. They are important for conservation as many of them continue to sustain wildlife outside of national parks but are under no formal protection. Amongst the millions of people also supported there, many are very poor and dependent on access to land for their livestock (Wrobel and Redford 2010, p. 2). Over these large land areas, there are broad as well as quite intricate interactions between all the species, including humans. The rangelands are used by pastoralists, a primarily dependent on income from their livestock, principally reliant on grazing pastures, within extensive land use systems having low human and livestock population densities and using relatively low levels of inputs compared to other agricultural production systems (Robinson et al. 2011; Thornton et al. 2002). Extensive livestock-keeping still dominates the terrestrial landscape, in areas where alternative forms of production are inhibited by limitations of climate and terrain, although that has not prevented other resource users (e.g. irrigated and rainfed cropping, housing development, mineral extraction) from expanding into the so-called marginal lands. Low land use pressure under pastoralism has allowed higher densities and diversities of wildlife, enabled to share the same areas as people and their livestock, as compared to other major land uses such as cropping and urbanization. As global incomes rise, demand is accelerating for livestock products of meat and milk, leading to strong economic incentives to intensify livestock production in the rangelands (Steinfeld et al. 2010). The force of demand is accompanied by policy subsidies and private sector enterprises, as intensified livestock systems are frequently viewed as more modern, technically advanced and higher-yielding, compared to extensive pastoralism. These trends are increasing pressure on extensive pastures and rangelands, impacting both wildlife management and pastoralism, in high-income as well as low-income countries. But there are increasing concerns about the costs of intensive livestock production, which generates higher levels of green house gases compared to extensive pastoralism (FAO 2006; Herrero et al. 2011), as well as pollution, greater
Natural Resource Perspectives, Paper No. 1, Overseas Development Institute, London , 1994
The material that follows has been provided by Overseas Development Institute Redesigning for ris... more The material that follows has been provided by Overseas Development Institute Redesigning for risk: tracking and buffering environmental variability in Africa's rangelands "Arid and semi-arid lands cover about one-third of the earth's land surface, but nearly two-thirds of the African continent. The majority of African livestock and possibly 30 million livestock-dependent people reside in these dry zones along with the greatest and most diverse concentrations of large wild mammals in existence" (Ellis, 1994). Of the world's 20 poorest countries, many are situated here. Considerations of economic importance, environmental interest, geographical extent and human welfare suggest that African rangelands should be high on the development agenda. They are not. This paper discusses some of the reasons for neglect, and proposes some remedies.
Bulletin of the International Livestock Centre for Africa , 1987
MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dair... more MILK IS one of the main products in most pastoral systems in Africa, yet the contribution of dairying to pastoral economies is often overlooked. This study of the nomadic pastoral system in South Darfur shows that milk not only meets 25% of a pastoral family's caloric requirements, but also has an important exchange value. Bartering dairy produce enables pastoralists to grow less crops and concentrate on herd management, while the cash generated through dairy sales is partly used to purchase food grains, thus helping to forestall sales of live animals until the late dry season, and in drought years, to avert the depletion of the breeding stock. The author concludes that the role of milk as a source of income in pastoral economies can be enhanced by introducing more advanced milk processing techniques such as cheese-making, which would allow seasonally surplus milk to be used more efficiently.
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit:
Pastoral Development Network Set 34, ODI, London , 1993
In this review we explore how pastoral dairying has changed as a consequence of commercialisation... more In this review we explore how pastoral dairying has changed as a consequence of commercialisation, defined as the total or partial shift in production goals from meeting subsistence needs to producing for the market. This shift occurs when monetary exchange becomes so regular and so generalised that pastoral products are no longer solely produced for direct use by the production unit, but acquire a monetary value, realizable through market exchange. When this happens, the character of pastoral products as marketable commodities is taken into account by producers a priori, during the process of production itself. Faced with the need to produce most of what they consume, subsistenceoriented pastoralists extract a broad array of useful products from their herds. Commercially-oriented livestock producers, on the other hand, may purchase from the market most of what they need, and only produce those livestock products which are most profitable to sell. Market involvement therefore tends to narrow the range of products extracted from herds and to encourage specialization. With regards to semi-arid Africa, development planners generally view live animals for slaughter as the commercial product par excellence, while milk and dairy products are conceived of as subsistence goods which decline in importance with commercialization. Accordingly, most examinations of commercialization analyze the problems and prospects for increased meat production. In this paper we will consider the same issue of pastoral commercialization, but from the opposite direction, looking the other way down the telescope. We are concerned with what has happened when milk itself
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-39. 2006, 2006
Kazak nomads were seasonally mobile in the pre-Soviet period, in response to climate variability ... more Kazak nomads were seasonally mobile in the pre-Soviet period, in response to climate variability and landscape heterogeneity. The scale of these movements was interrupted during the Soviet period, but some degree of mobility remained. Mobility virtually ceased in the post-Soviet 1990s, but is reemerging as flock numbers rebound from the mid 1990s population crash. The paper presents results from a three-year multidisciplinary study in southeast Kazakstan, from 2000 to 2004. The study areas cover ecological transects of up to 600 km in length, which in some cases are still traversed by pastoral flocks. The transects cover desert, semi-desert, riverine, semi-steppe, foothill and sub-alpine pastures, with precipitation ranging from 150 mm to 650 mm. Results show the proportions of livestock grazed around villages and those which are seasonally mobile. Animal nutrition and economic factors associated with livestock mobility are presented. Forage assessments indicate discrepancies between available resources and their exploitation, due to decreasing mobility. Under the current grazing systems, pastures distant from settlement are now mainly unused and former integral grazing circuits have therefore become fragmented. Non-mobile livestock have lowered productivity compared to mobile livestock.
The Socio-Economic Causes and Consequences of Desertification in Central Asia.(ed) R. Behnke , 2008
Kazakh pastoralists formerly followed long-distance migratory routes each season. This was contin... more Kazakh pastoralists formerly followed long-distance migratory routes each season. This was continued with state farm support during the Soviet period. After the collapse of state farms in the mid 1990s, most pastoralists were constrained to graze their animals in circuits around villages, as they could not afford to undertake seasonal migrations. Pasture degradation has resulted. Small-scale village-based livestock owners rely on their animals mainly for subsistence. Compared to large-scale owners, they gain higher rates of economic returns per head of animal owned. Large-scale owners have returned to moving their animals to distant pastures, and their animals are heavier as a consequence. These types of owners can achieve economies of scale, but they have high actual costs of moving animals.
A short outline of my experience in research and development of indigenous cashmere goats in Cent... more A short outline of my experience in research and development of indigenous cashmere goats in Central Asia; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan
Dismantling the Soviet Union had rarely-examined effects on remote rural families. Nomadic pastor... more Dismantling the Soviet Union had rarely-examined effects on remote rural families. Nomadic pastoralists had been collectivised into state farms to build industrialised livestock production. In a 'second Revolution', independence in1991 brought new policies removing most state support and control. Pastoral families now choose how to manage rangeland and livestock, but with options restricted by deteriorating economies. Few pastoralists may survive this restructuring, yet they possess skills of irreplaceable value for rangeland and livestock management. The book documents these impacts in Kazakstan and Turkmenistan, through multidisciplinary field studies during 1998-2000. Topics covered: agrarian reform; vegetation dynamics; livestock nutrition, productivity, grazing patterns, marketing and income; land degradation; institutions for managing pasture and animals. The fourteen authors, of whom five are Central Asian, include social anthropologists, animal scientists, economists, pasture agronomists and climate ecologists. State farm dissolution has encouraged a variety of new institutions for managing livestock, land and markets with emerging socioeconomic differentiation due to unequal access to resources and markets. Destocking and reduced livestock mobility has altered the locus of overgrazing, which was widespread in the Soviet period, with some pastures regenerating. Contrasting prospects for pastoralism are drawn for each country. Swift decollectivisation in Kazakstan resulted in massive destocking and impoverishment. The future for small-scale pastoralists in Kazakstan is not promising. The Turkmen government has pursued a gradualist policy that may be more beneficial for pastoralists. The book offers suggestions for strengthening the pastoral economies. The book will appeal to those interested in how pastoralists have coped with radical change, to researchers on range and livestock in semi-arid areas, and to policy analysts of transition in the former Soviet Union.
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