Pastoralism or Pastoral Farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, sheep etc. Animal husbandry, also called Animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding Camels are Even-toed ungulates within the Genus Camelus. The Dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump and the The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The yak ( Bos grunniens) is a long-haired Bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai - The llama ( Lama glama) is a South American Camelid, widely used as a Pack animal by the Incas and other natives of the Andes It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and water. Pasture is land with Herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of Ungulate Livestock as part of a Farm or Ranch. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life.
Pastoralism is found in many variations throughout the world. Composition of herds, management practices, social organization and all other aspects of pastoralism vary between areas and between social groups. Many ‘traditional’ practices have also had to adapt to changing, modern circumstances. Also the ranches of the United States and the sheep stations and cattle stations of Australia are seen by some as modern variations. A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a Ranch) in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm ( station, the equivalent of Ranch) usually in the Outback, whose main activity is the raising For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.
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Origins
Some researchers believe that pastoralism followed mixed farming (rainfall-dependent agriculture with animal husbandry). A family farm is a farm owned and operated by a family and passed down from Generation to generation A model presented by Bates and Lees suggests that it was the introduction of irrigation to farming which resulted in the selective pressures for specialization (Lees & Bates, 1973). The increased productivity of irrigation agriculture ultimately resulted in population growth and pressure on resources, which lead to greater land and greater labour requirements for intensive farming. Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is an Agricultural production system characterized by the high Inputs of Capital, Fertilizers Marginal areas of land were often all that was left for animal rearing. To acquire enough forage, large distances had to be covered by herds. This resulted in a higher labour requirement for animal tending. As a result of the increasing requirements of both intensive agriculture and pastoralism, the two practices diverged and specialization took place. Both developed alongside each other, with continuing interactions (Lees & Bates, 1974). Other proponents of this view include Levy (1983) and Hole (1996).
Another theory is that pastoralism derived directly from hunting and gathering. A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild Foraging and Hunting In this view, hunters of wild goats and sheep already had knowledge of herd dynamics and the ecological needs of the herd animals. These groups were already mobile, and followed wild herds on their seasonal round. The process of domestication began before the first wild goat or sheep was tamed as result of the selective pressure of hunter prey-choice acting upon the herd. In this way, wild herds were selected to become more manageable for the proto-pastoralist nomadic hunter and gatherer groups. In order to become fully fledged pastoralists,
Resources
As explained in the origins section, pastoralism takes place mainly in marginal areas, where cultivation (and the higher energy achieved per area) is not possible. Animals feed on the forage of these lands; an energy source which humans cannot directly utilize. The herds convert the energy into sources available for human consumption: milk, blood and sometimes meat (Bates, 1998:105).
There is a common conception that pastoralists exist at basic subsistence. Subsistence is the food necessary to sustain life The following is a list of subsistence techniques: Hunting and Gathering This assumption is not true; groups often accumulate wealth and can be involved in international trade. Complex exchange relationships exist with horticulturalists, agriculturalists and other groups; pastoralists rarely exist exclusively with the products of their herd.
Resource management
Pastoralism is well adapted to the environments where it exists; it is a successful strategy to support a population with the limited resources of the land. Important components of the pastoralist adaptation include low population density, mobility, and dynamism, and complex information systems.
Mobility
Mobility allows pastoralists to simultaneously exploit more than one environment, thus creating the possibility for arid regions to support human life. Rather than adapting the environment to suit the “food production system” (Bates, 1998:104) the system is moved to fit the environment. Pastoralists often have an area with a radius of 100-500km. This is not to suggest that pastoralists and their livestock have not altered the environment. Lands long used for pastoralism have evolved under the pressures of regular grazing on one hand and, on the other, anthropogenic fire. Fire was a method of rejuvenating pasture land and preventing forest regrowth. Over time, the combined environmental pressures of routine fire and livestock browsing have transformed landscapes in many parts of the world. With fire as the main tool, pastoralists have deliberately tended the land, keeping it in forms of pasture suited for their herds. An example such a landscape is the Maquis shrublands of the Mediterranean region, which are dominated by pyrophytic plants that thrive under conditions of regular fire and browsing (Pyne, 1997). Maquis ( French) or macchia ( Italian; plural macchie) is a Shrubland Biome in the Mediterranean region, typically
Different mobility patterns can be observed:
Nomadic pastoralists: 1) it is a generalized food-producing strategy with its main base relying on the intensive management of herd animals for their primary products of meat and skin, and for their secondary products such as wool or hair, milk, blood, dung, traction, and transport; 2) because of the different climates and environments of the areas where nomadic pastoralism is practiced and because of the ecology of their herd animals, this management includes daily movement and seasonal migration of herds; 3) because a majority of the members of the group are in some way directly involved with herd management, the household moves with these seasonal migrations; and 4) while the products of the herd animals are the most important resources, use of other resources, such as domesticated and wild plants, hunted animals, goods available in a market economy, is not excluded. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that
Transhumance: where members of the group move the herd seasonally from one area to another, often between higher and lower pastures. Transhumance is a term with two accepted usages Older sources use transhumance for vertical seasonal Livestock movement typically to higher The rest of the group are able to stay in the same location, resulting in longer-standing housing.
Mobility throughout altitudes and the resulting precipitation differences is important. In East Africa, different animals are taken to different regions throughout the year, to match the seasonal patterns of precipitation.
The actions of herders are carefully planned, but also constantly adjusted, to match changing conditions. The system is dynamic, to suit the unpredictable landscape (Fagan, 1999). All pastoralist strategies exemplify effective adaptation to the environment.
Information
Intrinsically linked with mobility is the complex “maps” that pastoralists keep in their minds, marking out the usefulness of certain areas at different times of year. Pastoralists have a detailed understanding of ecological processes and environmental inputs (Wilson, 1992). Information sharing is essential for creating such deep knowledge. This is made possible by formal visiting rules and networks, keeping dispersed societies linked.
Elders discuss and cautiously plan in advance, using the knowledge they acquire, in order to act in the most appropriate way.
Disruption of management strategies
This ability for careful control and planning was wiped away with colonialization. In the Sahel region of Africa, mobility was restricted, settlement was encouraged and the population tripled with improved sanitation and medical care (Fagan, 1999). The previous balance of the pastoralist system was disturbed.
Tragedy of the commons?
Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons (1968) described how common property resources, such as the land shared by pastoralists, ultimately become overused and ruined. The Tragedy of the Commons is the title of an influential article written by Garrett Hardin, first published in the journal Science in 1968.
Following this paper, the pastoralist land use strategy suffered criticisms of being unstable and a cause of environmental degradation (Fratkins, 1997).
A particularly strong example of this is based in the Sahel zone in Africa, where human mismanagement by pastoralists was blamed for desertification and depletion of resources (Fratkins, 1997). See also Sahel Tunisia, a region of eastern Tunisia. The Sahel or Sahel Belt (from Arabic ساحل sāḥil The problems were actually due to previous interference and particularly severe climate conditions. However, Hardin’s paper suggested a solution to the problems, offering rational basis for further privatization of land. This encouraged more intrusion and the transfer of land from tribal peoples to the state or to individuals (Monbiot, 1994). However, modernization and privatization programmes negatively affected the livelihood of the pastoralist societies and actually worsened the ecological impact (Wilson, 1992).
Examples of this throughout the world are believed to provide further evidence that the pastoralist way of life is an efficient system; one of the few ways of supporting a population in a difficult environment and representing a sustainable approach to land use (Wilson, 1992). Sustainability, in a general sense is the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely With traditional pastoralist strategies, the “tragedy” is avoided through the management practices described above.
Social organization
Each pastoralist adaptation occurred in different contexts; there is therefore no specific form of social organization associated with pastoralism. However, pastoralist societies are often organised in tribes, with the ‘household’ (often including extended family) as a basic unit for organization of labour and expenses (Bates, 1998). A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally consists of a Social group existing before the development of or outside of States Many anthropologists use Lineages can be the basis for property rights. An in-depth discussion of one particular nomadic pastoralist social structure can be found in the Bedouin article. The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously
Mobility allows groups of pastoralists to split and regroup as resources permit, or as desired with changes in social relations.
Examples of pastoralist societies
Traditional
- Aromanians of Balkans
- Bedouin of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
- Dhangars of India
- Kuchis of Afghanistan
- Maasai of Africa
- Navajo of North America
- Sarakatsani of Greece
- Somali of Africa
- Tuvans of Mongolia
- Yörük of Turkey
Modern
One of the consequences of the break-up of the Soviet Union and the subsequent political independence and economic collapse of its Central Asian republics is the resurgence of pastoral nomadism. Aromanians (or Macedo-Rumans; in Aromanian they call themselves Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are a people living throughout the southern Balkans The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) Jejuri Jejuri is one of the famous temples in Maharashtra. The God of Jejuri - Khandoba ( Lord Shiva) the husband of Banai (from the Dhangar India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Kuchis (from the Farsi word Kuch referring to a wandering tribe and robbers are a tribe of Pashtun and some Baluch nomads and semi-nomads (Chahar- Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, The Maasai are an indigenous African Ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Navajo or Diné people (also spelled Navaho) of the Southwestern United States The Sarakatsani (Σαρακατσάνοι are a group of Greek transhumant shepherds in Greece. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Tuvans or Tuvinians ( Tuvan: Тывалар Tyvalar) are a group of Mongols or Turkic people. Mongolia (mɒŋˈɡoʊliə, literally Mongol country/nation,) is a Landlocked Country in East The Yörük, also Yürük or Yuruk (yörük Bulgarian юрук, plural юруци) are a Turkish people ultimately of Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Taking the Kyrgyz people as a representative example, nomadism was the centre of their economy prior to Russian colonization at the turn of the C19/C20, when they were settled into agricultural villages. The Kyrgyz (also spelled Kirgiz, Kirghiz) are a Turkic Ethnic group found primarily in Kyrgyzstan. The population became increasingly urbanized after World War II, but some people continued to take their herds of horses and cows to the high pasture (jailoo) every summer, i. Urbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existing World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including e. , a pattern of transhumance. Transhumance is a term with two accepted usages Older sources use transhumance for vertical seasonal Livestock movement typically to higher Since the 1990s, as the cash economy shrank, unemployed relatives were absorbed back on the family farm, and the importance of this form of nomadism has increased. The symbols of nomadism, specifically the crown of the grey felt tent known as the yurt, appears on the national flag, emphasizing the centrality of their nomadic history and past in the creation of the modern nation of Kyrgyzstan. A yurt is a portable Felt -covered wood lattice -framed dwelling structure used by Nomads in the Steppes of Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan (ˈkɻ̩gɪztɑn (AmE or /'kɝgəztan/ (BrE Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан; Russian: Киргизия or Киргизстан or Кыргызстан
See also
- Pastoral -- literary treatment of pastoralists
Bibliography
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- Fagan, B. (1999) "Drought Follows the Plow", adapted from Floods, Famines and Emperors: Basic Books
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- Hardin, G. (1968) The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162, 1243 - 1248
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