Agro-pastoral Communities Research Articles

How Snow Leopards Share the Same Landscape with Tibetan Agro-pastoral Communities in the Chinese Himalayas

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits a human-altered alpine landscape and is often tolerated by residents in regions where the dominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism, including in Qomolangma NNR on the northern side of the Chinese Himalayas. Despite these positive attitudes, many decades of rapid economic development and population growth can cause increasing disturbance to the snow leopards, altering their habitat use patterns and ultimately impacting their conservation. We adopted a dynamic landscape ecology perspective and used multi-scale technique and occupancy model to better understand snow leopard habitat use and coexistence with humans in an 825 km2 communal landscape. We ranked eight hypothetical models containing potential natural and anthropogenic drivers of habitat use and compared them between summer and winter seasons within a year. HABITAT was the optimal model in winter, whereas ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCE was the top ranking in summer (AICcw≤2). Overall, model performance was better in the winter than in the summer, suggesting that perhaps some latent summer covariates were not measured. Among the individual variables, terrain ruggedness strongly affected snow leopard habitat use in the winter, but not in the summer. Univariate modeling suggested snow leopards prefer to use rugged land in winter with a broad scale (4000 m focal radius) but with a lesser scale in summer (30 m); Snow leopards preferred habitat with a slope of 22° at a scale of 1000 m throughout both seasons, which is possibly correlated with prey occurrence. Furthermore, all covariates mentioned above showed inextricable ties with human activities (presence of settlements and grazing intensity). Our findings show that multiple sources of anthropogenic activity have complex connections with snow leopard habitat use, even under low human density when anthropogenic activities are sparsely distributed across a vast landscape. This study is also valuable for habitat use research in the future, especially regarding covariate selection for finite sample sizes in inaccessible terrain.

Efficacy of risk reducing diversification portfolio strategies among agro-pastoralists in semi-arid area: A modern portfolio theory approach

Agro-pastoralists in the tropical semi-arid dryland areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are significantly affected by climate change and variability. Agro-pastoral families are coping with production-related climatic risks through livelihood diversification to ensure food security. Data were collected from a sample of 411 agro-pastoralists across five districts in the semi-arid northern and central regions of Tanzania through a survey conducted between November 2017 and July 2018. Secondary data regarding crop yields and livestock populations for eight years from 2009 to 2017 were collected from the National Bureau of Statistics and the respective District offices. Results show that about three-quarters of the agro-pastoralists managed diversified crop and livestock portfolios with two or more crops and animal species. However, simulated crop yields reveal positive correlations. Construction of integrated portfolios that generate good returns at a modest risk can be achieved through strategic choices between high-return, high-risk and low-return, low-risk crop and livestock activities. Thus, the paper recommends costly long-term breeding and genotype improvement programs, strategically changing the make-up of the current crop and livestock portfolios, which appear to be an affordable and tailored solution for building risk resilience among agro-pastoral communities in the drylands.

The Swahili World

The Swahili World

Archaeology of Marginalization in Indian History

It is possible to identify developments from the prehistoric period onward in India that led to the formation of agro-pastoral communities, state society, and a reduction in, as well as transformation of, the hunting-gathering modes of life. The formation of caste societies saw forest dwellers, called Ādivāsis or Scheduled Tribes today, being categorized as outsiders, residing in the fringes of the habitats of caste-based settled communities and complex relationships of exchange and labour developed among them. Within caste societies, the communities that formed the labour class, now categorized as Scheduled Castes, were relegated to the bottom of the social hierarchy. Throughout history, communities such as the forest people and the labouring classes have been marginalized in the process of social formation, with little or no access to political and economic power and resources. Their histories constitute the subject of the archaeology of the margins. This article focuses on the role archaeological sources can play in the reconstruction of the histories of such marginalized communities, and also on the importance of anthropological field methods to understand their material life and culture.

Influence of Late Holocene Climate Change and Human Land Use on Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems in Southwest Madagascar

Madagascar’s biota underwent substantial change following human colonization of the island in the Late Holocene. The timing of human arrival and its role in the extinction of megafauna have received considerable attention. However, the impacts of human activities on regional ecosystems remain poorly studied. Here, we focus on reconstructing changes in the composition of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to evaluate the impact of human land use and climate variability. We conducted a paleoenvironmental study, using a sediment record that spans the last ∼1,145 years, collected from a lakebed in the Namonte Basin of southwest Madagascar. We examined physical (X-ray fluorescence and stratigraphy) and biotic indicators (pollen, diatoms and micro- and macro-charcoal particles) to infer terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem change. The fossil pollen data indicate that composition of grasslands and dry deciduous forest in the region remained relatively stable during an arid event associated with northward displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) between ∼1,145 and 555 calibrated calendar years before present (cal yr BP). Charcoal particles indicate that widespread fires occurred in the region, resulting from a combination of climate drivers and human agency during the entire span covered by the paleorecord. Following settlement by pastoral communities and the disappearance of endemic megafauna ∼1,000 cal yr BP, grasslands expanded and the abundance of trees that rely on large animals for seed dispersal gradually declined. A reduction in the abundance of pollen taxa characteristic of dry forest coincided with an abrupt increase in charcoal particles between ∼230 and 35 cal yr BP, when agro-pastoral communities immigrated into the region. Deforestation and soil erosion, indicated by a relatively rapid sedimentation rate and high K/Zr and Fe/Zr, intensified between 180 and 70 cal yr BP and caused a consequent increase in lake turbidity, resulting in more rapid turnover of the aquatic diatom community. Land use and ongoing climate change have continued to transform local terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems during the last ∼70 years. The current composition of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems reflects the legacy of extinction of native biota, invasion of exotic species, and diminished use of traditional land management practices.

Sugar industrialization and distress selling of livestock among the Bodi pastoralists in Ethiopia\u2019s lower Omo valley

This article, based on long-term fieldwork, argues that the Bodi, a small agro-pastoral community in Ethiopia’s lower Omo Valley, are experiencing distress selling of livestock and are undergoing collective impoverishment. These processes are a result of the rapid comprehensive transformations unfolding in the valley, which are themselves a product of the state’s aggressive resource extraction interests. These interests mainly relate to the building of the Gilgel Gibe III dam on the Omo River and the establishment of large-scale sugar estates. Increased insecurity in the valley followed these interventions. When combined, these changes resulted in the deterioration of the food security and livelihood situations of the Bodi, and the community attempted to cope by selling animals from their herds. Hence, the main reasons for market engagement relate to (1) coping with hunger, (2) coping with a high incidence of animal diseases and (3) coping with high rates of imprisonment of men. The Bodi also engage in three constrained livelihood alternatives: rain-fed farming, irrigated farming and wage employment. This article recommends that resolving the Bodi’s erosion of livelihoods necessitates addressing insecurity and the related socio-political outcomes, which lie at the heart of the Bodi’s dwindling livelihood situation and impoverishment.

The First Neolithic Occupation of La Cova del Randero (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain)

Abstract The excavations at “Cova del Randero” (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain) began in 2007 within the programme of archaeological interventions of the Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The cavity, located in one of the valleys that connect the coast with the inland mountains, presents a wide sequence of occupations that begins in the Upper Palaeolithic and continues throughout the different phases of the Neolithic. The results of a multidisciplinary study, carried out in an archaeological context associated with the first Neolithic presence of the cavity, are presented here. This occupation is defined by a unique combustion structure to which a set of artefacts and biofacts are linked. This archaeological context, probably of a specific nature, is related to the first agro-pastoral communities settled in the area. The fireplace is well defined stratigraphically and sedimentologically because of its reddish soil, which corresponds to hunter-gatherer occupation levels of the cavity, and under the greyish sediments that characterise the use of the cave as a fold during the Middle Neolithic. This occupation event was dated both by the associated materials, among which a fragment of cardial ceramic was found, and by radiocarbon dating of a metacarpus of Ovis aries around 5075–4910 cal BC (epicardial Early Neolithic). This data allows us to link the occupation of the cavity at this time with pastoral activity in a medium mountain environment. However, it also allows us to infer the environmental characteristics in which the first farming communities of the mountains of Alicante were developed.

Husbandry and Herding: A Community-Based Approach to Addressing Illegal Wildlife Trade in Northern Botswana

Illegal bushmeat hunting is a major driver of wildlife population declines in Northern Botswana. Such declines raise concerns about the principles and integrity of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) and regional economic stability which is heavily reliant on wildlife-based tourism. The KAZA landscape between Northern Botswana's protected areas consists of non-state land utilized communally by small agropastoralist communities. These communities are economically challenged by international beef trade policies, restricted access to grazing in nearby wildlife management areas and high conflict costs from living in close proximity to wildlife; some of the key factors identified as drivers of bushmeat hunting in the region. Here we describe how a model called Herding for Health (H4H) could address these drivers. We discuss strategies using a socio-economic centered Theory of Change (ToC) model to identify the role agropastoral communities can have in addressing illegal wildlife trade (IWT). The ToC conceptual framework was developed with input from a resource team consisting of scientific and implementation experts in H4H, wildlife conservation, illegal wildlife trade and livelihood development between September and December 2018, and with a validation workshop in March 2019 with government representatives from relevant ministries, NGO's, community-based organizations and private sector participants. We identify three pathways deriving from the ToC driven by community level actions to address IWT in the region. These include: increasing institutions for local enforcement, developing incentives for ecosystem stewardship and decreasing the costs of living alongside wildlife. The success of these pathways depends on underlying enabling actions: support for the development of institutional frameworks; building community capacity to facilitate informed best farming practices; and strengthening commitments to sustainable resource management to increase resilience to climatic and economic shocks.

An integrated approach for the identification and prioritization of areas based on their livelihood vulnerability index: a case study of agro-pastoral community from Western Indian Himalaya

An integrated approach for the identification and prioritization of areas based on their livelihood vulnerability index: a case study of agro-pastoral community from Western Indian Himalaya

Of Widows, Furrows, and Seed: New Perspectives on Land and the Colonial Andean Commons

AbstractAlthough much has been written about Indigenous land tenure in the Americas, colonial Andeanists still debate whether pre-Hispanic agropastoral communities held all pasture and farmland in common and, therefore, whether novel forms of private or individual control over land and its products were introduced only in the aftermath of the Iberian conquest. The alleged particularities of the Andean case vis-à-vis other regions for which historians accept a plurality of pre-Hispanic and postconquest land regimes are based on a twin set of oppositions: individual versus collective, and ownership versus use. In this essay, I reassess communal land tenure patterns through the lens of Native colonial customs of commoning and uncommoning. I contend that individual and communal aspects of land within Native collectives were not opposite ends of a spectrum but instead coterminous ways of acting on—that is, exerting power and control over—the same resources.

Knowledge, perceptions and effects of Ebola virus disease outbreak on the pig value chain in the agro-pastoralist district of Luwero, Central Uganda

BackgroundEbola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreaks have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing, and livelihoods of communities. EVD response interventions particularly affect the food value chain, and income security of pig farmers in agro-pastoral communities. Despite the enormous effort of EVD response interventions, there is paucity of information towards EVD among those involved in the pig value chain, as well as the effect of EVD outbreaks on the pig value chain. This study therefore, assessed the knowledge, perceptions on the occurrence of Ebola and its effects on the pig value chain in the agro-pastoral district of Luweero, Central Uganda.MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted in two parishes of Ssambwe and Ngalonkulu, Luwero district. A total of 229 respondents were included in the study. Structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to collect data. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 22 while qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis.ResultsOf the 229 respondents, 95.6% could recall the occurrence of the last EVD outbreak in their locality. About 24.5% associated EVD with touching pigs or eating pork. Regarding knowledge, 194 (84.7%) correctly associated EVD with handling Ebola infected persons, 191 (83.4%) with migration of people from endemic areas, 148 (64.9%) eating monkey meat, 127 (55.5%) with eating bats, and 198 (64.9%) with conducting public meetings where there is an Ebola infected person. Out of 142 farmers, 55 (38.7%) believed that Ebola outbreaks affected demand and sale of pigs. The EVD outbreak significantly led to a reduction in the average number of pigs sold (P = 0.001), the average number of pigs bought by traders (P = 0.04), and the number of pigs sold/ slaughtered by butcher men at pork eating places (P = 0.03).ConclusionThis study showed that EVD outbreak negatively affected the pig value chain i.e., the demand and supply of pigs and pork. Therefore, there is need to sensitize the stakeholders in the pig value chain on EVD in order to minimize the negative economic impacts associated with EVD outbreaks.

The Innovative Adaptation Structures of Agropastoral Communities to the Impact of Climate Change and Variability in Semi-Arid of Tanzania: A Case of Kiteto and Kilindi Districts

The study made an investigation on agro-pastoralists’ resilience through innovative adaptation structures to the impacts of climate change and variability in semi-arid areas of Kiteto and Kilindi districts. Data were collected using household survey which sampled 384 households, Focus Group Discussion, In-depth interviews and field visits were also used to collect more detailed data. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents indicated the decline in grazing lands/pastures and water resources leading to the decrease in the number of livestock and crop productivity by about 91.1%) being the major effect of climate change and variability in the study areas. All these have resulted to food insecurity for about six years consecutively. Therefore, to increase resilience, agro-pastoralists have developed innovative adaptation strategies which varied from one village to another, however, most of them were similar in abating food insecurity and climate change vulnerability. Overall, the main innovated adaptation strategies in order of importance were seasonal mobility with their livestock, construction of traditional water points locally known as Njoro, the use of traditional by-laws for pastures conservation/rotational use, traditional Maasai constructed water reservoirs (Mboutu), reducing stock number by selling and women transporting water by donkeys from traditional wells/Njoro and all of which have increased their livelihoods in dry lands.

Food, fields and forage: A socio-ecological account of cultural transitions among the Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh in India

Traditional food systems of many ethnic communities in India directly depend on their symbiotic relationship with the surrounding natural resources and the local socio-ecological and cultural dynamics. However, in the light of development activities resulting in drastic socio-ecological changes, these communities are oftentimes found stranded with over-simplified and unsustainable food systems. Using an ethnographic methodology, we present the case of Gaddis – an agro-pastoral community of Himachal Pradesh in India. In this paper, we documented the on-going trade-offs in traditional livelihoods of the Gaddis and their land use patterns that cause a significant transition in the traditional food systems. Based on our observations, we argue that mapping the shifting political ecology of resources enables a better understanding of transitioning food systems and the consequent eco-cultural changes. While doing so, we emphasize the need for revisitng the existing praxis of tribal development in India with an urgent focus on holistic socio-ecological approaches.

Differences in Factors Contributing to Child Undernutrition between Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Communities in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This cross-sectional study compared factors associated with childhood undernutrition in a pastoral community (PC) and an agro-pastoral community (APC) in Ethiopia. Results showed that APC had lower rates of child wasting and underweight, milder levels of food insecurity, and better environmental sanitation and handwashing practices than PC. In PC, stunting was associated with severe food insecurity (p = .049), while underweight was associated with unimproved sources of drinking water and inadequate practices of purifying drinking water (p < .001). Policies to improve environmental sanitation and food security seem to be protective against child undernutrition.

Lay attitudes and misconceptions and their implications for the control of brucellosis in an agro-pastoral community in Kilombero district, Tanzania.

Brucellosis is a priority zoonotic disease in Tanzania that causes ill-health in people and affects livestock productivity. Inadequate awareness and behavior risking transmission can impede control efforts. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 333 livestock owners in three villages in the Kilombero district, Tanzania, to understand their awareness, knowledge and behavior associated with brucellosis. Six Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), two in each village, were conducted, as well as an additional FGD with male herders from one of the villages. Factors associated with knowledge on brucellosis, food consumption and animal husbandry behavior risking transmission of this disease, were identified using generalized linear models. Predictors for knowledge of brucellosis were being male and having a higher educational level, while age was positively associated with a higher level of knowledge. Faith and ethnicity were associated with the performance of practices risking transmission. Following traditional religion and belonging to the Wamaasai ethnicity significantly increased the odds of carrying out these practices. Qualitative analysis gave insight into risk practices and reasoning. Of the 333 respondents, 29% reported that they had experienced abortions in their herds, 14% witnessed retained placentas, and 8% had seen still-births in their cattle within the previous year. However, survey results also showed that only 7.2% of participants had heard about brucellosis as a disease in livestock. Of those who had heard about brucellosis in livestock, 91% associated abortions with it and 71% knew that humans can get infected through raw milk consumption. People overwhelmingly attributed symptoms and transmission of brucellosis in livestock to infection with trypanosomiasis and to supernatural reasons instead. In the community, consumption of raw milk was valued and handling of aborted material was not considered a risk for infection. This agro-pastoralist community holds on to long-held beliefs and practices and lacks understanding of the biomedical concept of brucellosis. Transmission routes and symptoms of brucellosis in humans and livestock are completely unknown. The disparity between risk perception and actual transmission risk related to animal handling and consumption of animal products presents a challenge for disease awareness communication. This study recommends focused community engagement and sensitization to address the limited awareness and misconceptions among agro-pastoralists.

Food Insecurity Experience among Pastoralist Community in South Omo, Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study

Food insecurity is a global challenge, particularly in developing country like Ethiopia, which is aggravated by a lack of adequate food availability, rapid population growth and COVID-19; it has serious consequences for the health and well-being of adults and children. Although several studies have been conducted in central and agrarian communities, there is little evidence of studies on food insecurity in the most remote communities like Southern Omo. This study aimed to assess the contributing factors and coping strategies related to food insecurity among rural agro pastoralist community. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted in southern Ethiopia. A total of 18 in-depth interview participants were interviewed and moreover 5 focus group discussions were conducted in total of 53 pregnant women, until data saturations. Field notes were taken and voice recoded during each sessions. The information were transcribed verbatim and analyzed, thematically supported by Atlas ti 7 software. The findings were presented in theme, sub-theme and category with quote. The study confirmed that, there is an important contributing factors affecting food security such as: drought, rain shortage, climate change, food sources always from purchasing, food aid community, living within a pastoralist community, poor soil fertility, Omo river not used for irrigation, conflict between ethnic group, increment of population number, and unavailable guideline were the main contributing factors for household food insecurity. Moreover, in-depth interview and FGD participants provided their opinion on household food insecurity coping strategies like selling cow/goat and buying maize powder, eating uncommon tree (“negode”), getting help from food aid, access of safety net, borrowing food/crops from neighboring (“kebele”) ethnic families, eating unacceptable leaves and branches, selling fire wood and grass in town and doing labor work at town. The study findings confirmed that, drought, rain shortage, climate change, poor soil fertility, and lack of irrigation system for productions that affect food security. Therefore, policy makers and local agricultural authority recommended to build resilient, advanced, and context based agriculture system to overcome aforementioned factors in pastoralist community.

Understanding anatomical plasticity of Argan wood features at local geographical scale in ecological and archaeobotanical perspectives

The emergence of the Argan tree as an agricultural, pastoral, cultural, economic and ecological keystone species in Southern Morocco is considered to be linked to the settlement of agropastoral communities that favored its expansion. Nevertheless, the use and exploitation of Argan tree is documented by both few medieval written sources and archaeobotanical studies, from a single location, Îgîlîz (Toughmart, Morocco), a famous medieval site of the Anti-Atlas Mountains. Therefore, data remain scarce regarding the type of Argan communities exploited at this period. In order to document this question, a quantitative eco-anatomical approach aiming to understand variations of wood characters involved in sap conduction and reserve storage, is developed from modern samples collected in the area of Îgîlîz. Results show that diameter of branches and environmental factors are the major parameters explaining plasticity of wood anatomical characters. Quantitative eco-anatomical features of Argan archaeological charcoal confronted to two statistical models, allow assessing both the diameter of the branches from which it derives and the agro-ecological conditions of tree growth and development. This preliminary study may be considered as a relevant and pioneering work for the understanding of the eco-history of the Argan tree, and of its use and exploitation during the past.

Impact of wildlife on food crops and approaches to reducing human wildlife conflict in the protected landscapes of Eastern Nepal

ABSTRACT Human wildlife conflict (HWC) represents a growing concern for the agro-pastoral community living near protected areas. We investigated the effects of crop damage by wild animals on the food security of local households and explored potential solutions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with 250 households and 21 key informant interviews around the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal. Our results revealed that 96% of the respondents had experienced conflicts with wild animals, of which 66% reported rice as a major damaged crop. Annually, 320 kg of rice per household was damaged, which is equivalent to one-third of the annual consumption for each household in the study area. Wild elephants were the key contributors (62%) to this damage. To mitigate HWC, 59% respondents suggested construction of concrete walls around the affected areas. In addition, mobilization of the local community in conservation stewardship helps reduce HWC.

Modern reuse of ringstones: a case study from Eastern India

This study addresses issues related to the modern reuse of prehistoric ringstones in the Bargarh district, Odisha, India. Drawing on ancestral knowledge, ringstones are today used in a medicinal context by some agro-pastoral communities to heal cattle. Surveys of ten villages in a study area, which also includes two archaeological surface sites (Dekhulia and Kumbho), allowed investigations of the properties of ringstones and the ritualised context of their modern reuse.

Identifying anthropogenic features at Seoke (Botswana) using pXRF: Expanding the record of southern African Stone Walled Sites.

Numerous and extensive ‘Stone Walled Sites’ have been identified in southern African Iron Age landscapes. Appearing from around 1200 CE, and showing considerable variability in size and form, these settlements are named after the dry-stone wall structures that characterize them. Stone Walled Sites were occupied by various Bantu-speaking agropastoral communities. In this paper we test the use of pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence analysis) to generate a ‘supplementary’ archaeological record where evident stratigraphy is lacking, survey conditions may be uneven, and excavations limited, due to the overall site size. We propose herein the application of portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (pXRF) coupled with multivariate exploratory analysis and geostatistical modelling at Seoke, a southern African SWS of historical age (18th century CE). The aim of the paper is twofold: to explore the potential of the application of a low cost, quick, and minimally invasive technique to detect chemical markers in anthropogenic sediments from a Stone Walled Site, and to propose a way to analyse the results in order to improve our understanding of the use of space at non-generalized scales in such sites.