Abstract

Pastoral societies in dryland Africa continue to face changes to their systems. These systems are influenced by a range of historical factors, but little use is made of this information to design policies that suit pastoralists’ landscapes. This article provides a synthesis of historical perspectives on pastoral land use and tenure transformations in Ngamiland, south of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Little documentation of herders’ historical perspectives exists and less is known about how past experiences can be applied to sustainable pastoralism policies. In this article, current land use pressing issues are examined and analysed within the context of past experiences. We use a series of oral histories with key informants, focus group discussions, expert interviews and rangeland field observations. Results show that Nagamiland’s pastoral landscape has been shaped by a variety of factors: livestock diseases, human-wildlife conflicts, droughts, land tenure transformations associated with rangeland policies and the pastoral identity of the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu ethnic groups. Pastoralists have followed unique trajectories, specific to their rangeland conditions and socio-cultural context. Resilience to climate shocks and diseases has been weakened by inequitable patterns of control over rangeland resources. We recommend institutional diversity such that from experiences of the past, lessons can be drawn of processes and institutions required for pastoralism policies targeted pastoralists’ adaptations. Using pastoralists to provide information, especially in the area of indigenous knowledge, strategies can be developed to link conservation of wildlife and rangelands with pastoral production by developing ecologically sensitive low-volume tourism that pastoral communities can tap to diversify their livelihoods.

Highlights

  • Policy debates on pastoralism have given increasing attention to issues of communal area development and management (Rohde et al 2006; Behnke 1987)

  • Drawing from data gathered from focus group and expert interviews, we discuss local pastoralists’ perspectives on current land use and how rangeland privatisation has affected pastoral land use and land tenure

  • This study proposes a strong consideration of historical perspectives in informing policy debates on sustainable pastoralism

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Summary

Introduction

Policy debates on pastoralism have given increasing attention to issues of communal area development and management (Rohde et al 2006; Behnke 1987). Many policies have been attempted in African countries to increase livestock production in communal areas while at the same time maintaining the forage quality of the range (Mwangi 2009; Rass 2006; Fratkin 1997). In this effort, traditional pastoralism has been commonly viewed as unproductive and directly responsible for rangeland degradation (Oba 2013). In most sub-Saharan African countries, such recognition has Basupi et al Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice (2017) 7:24 not yet translated into the protection and maintenance of traditional pastoralism of flexible mobility-based systems (Basupi et al 2017; Kitchell et al 2014)

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