Pastoral Resources Research Articles

Perception and Resilience Strategies of Livestock Farmers and Agro-Pastoralists Affected by Climate Change: Case of the urban commune of Tera, Niger

This study aimed to identify and strengthen the resilience of livestock and agro-pastoralists in the face of changing climatic conditions. The study was conducted in the urban commune of Tera. The methodological approach consisted of desk research and data collection. In order to find the number of households to be surveyed in the selected camps, the method of taking a sample (8%) of the target households is adopted. In total, forty-eight (48) herders and agro-pastoralists are selected. The analysis of the perception of the herders and agro-pastoralists on the climate trend showed a decrease in the amount of rainfall (94% of respondents), increasingly high temperatures (92%) and an increase in strong and sandy winds in all seasons (96%). The disappearance of plant cover was the main cause of climate change according to 79.2% of respondents. The impacts of climate change are numerous. Pastoral resources (water and fodder) have been greatly reduced. The health of the animals has been affected, as has their production. Strategies have been developed by farmers and agro-pastoralists to reduce or anticipate the negative effects of climate change. According to some respondents, the strategies have not fully met expectations.

Pastoral pressure and degradation of forest and peri-forest rangelands in the central Middle Atlas: case of the Tigrigra watershed (Morocco)

Although the forest ecosystems of the western region of the central Middle Atlas have a significant fodder potential and a particular richness in terms of biodiversity. They are currently subject to a regressive dynamic under the influence of overgrazing. This study allows to draw up a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the pastoral pressure on the natural ecosystems of the Tigrigra watershed. This is a territory where climatic changes and social mutations (stability of herders and cultivation of land formerly reserved for grazing), combined with the increase in the number of herds, have led to the dependence of livestock feeding on forest fodder resources. Indeed, grazing practices in the study area are based on traditional concepts of extensive livestock rearing and misuse of pastoral resources, which leads to significant dysfunctions between pastoral supply and demand, and consequently to the degradation of natural ecosystems.

Modélisation des performances de reproduction de la population caprine locale dans les régions arides tunisiennes

La présente étude vise à illustrer l’action qualitative et quantitative de facteurs d’aridité et des modes de conduite sur les performances reproductives de la chèvre locale. Un total de 462 mises bas provenant de l'accouplement de 11 boucs et 185 chèvres, ont été recueillies durant la période 1999-2014. Deux caractères ont été choisis pour analyser les performances de reproduction :la taille de la portée et l’intervalle entre deux mises bas successives. Les facteurs fixes inclus dans le modèle sont l’âge et la parité de la chèvre et l’interaction année × mois de mise bas. Les moyennes de l’IMB et de la TP sont respectivement 13,85 ± 5,20 mois et de 1,33 ± 0,49 chevreaux. Les jeunes femelles ont montré des performances de reproduction relativement plus faibles que celles des chèvres âgées, indiquant des conflits possibles entre les besoins de croissance et la disponibilité alimentaire. Les performances de reproduction de la chèvre locale affichent des valeurs justifiables par les conditions naturelles hostiles. Il semble avoir une augmentation générale du TP à mesure que la parité progresse jusqu'à la cinquième parité. Une large valeur d’IMB a été observée pour la deuxième parité puis elle tend à diminuer. Le cycle reproductif des chèvres est essentiellement soumis aux effets des facteurs qui agissent sur les ressources pastorales et le stress climatique. Ces constations sont capitales pour l’élaboration des procédures d’évaluation et de choix des reproducteurs dans le cadre d’un schéma de sélection.

Traditional breeding of small ruminants in the North-West of Benin: practices and inventory of food resources

The northern part of Benin is a favourite area for ruminant breeding in view of its pastoral resources and the many other assets it has at its disposal. The objectives of this study were (i) to characterize small ruminants rearing practices in north-western Benin, (ii) to assess factors that affect the described practices (iii) and to inventory the feed resources used in the ruminant breeding. To achieve these objectives, a retrospective survey was carried out in four municipalities located at north-west Benin. The results showed that sheep and goats are mostly raised by men (94.93%). Digestive disorders (90.41%) are the main diseases encountered. The results of linear regression analysis showed that sociocultural group and education level of the respondents have a significant influence on the mode of management and the practice of castration of small ruminants. Feeding was based on fodder from natural rangelands, notably Rottboellia cochinchinensis and Adenodolichos paniculatus. These fodders content respectively, 17.71% and 20.4% of Total Nitrogen Matter (TNM). Breeders used crop residues, notably legume tops, food processing residues and fodder trees during the lean season. In view of this multitude of food resources, possibilities for improving the existing small ruminants breeding system are proposed.

Can formalisation of pastoral land tenure overcome its paradoxes? Reflections from East Africa

Legal frameworks for communal land rights in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania are now gaining momentum. Questions can be raised as to whether, how, and to what extent these frameworks take into account the disadvantages of formalising tenure and the complexities of pastoral resources. In this paper, we consider the impact of these challenges on the formalisation of communal ownership, beginning with an overview of how commons theory has influenced land governance policies and how it is applied to pastoral systems. We identify the main challenges that land policy interventions in East Africa face and ways in which the conceptual models of shared property rights embodied in current land tenure regimes are not well adapted to the socio-ecological characteristics of some rangeland landscapes. We argue that policy interventions capable of overcoming the paradox of pastoral tenure and strengthening tenure security while addressing herders’ needs for mobility and flexibility will often involve the progressive recognition of layers of sometimes overlapping rights, rather than attempts to subdivide landscapes into simple mosaics of discrete communal territories. This paper is based on an analysis of the legal frameworks for land tenure in the three countries and a review of the literature on pastoralism and land governance in the region.

Space images as one of the tools for the rangelands condition assessment in Kazakhstan

Relevance. Kazakhstan possesses enormous pasture resources, which in turn requires proper management and regulation. Drought, climate change, plant degradation and declining grazing resources have led to a shortage of feed , which led to massive livestock deaths in 2021. Lack of up-to-date information on the condition of rangelands is the main problem for Kazakhstan. The use of Earth remote sensing data makes it possible to obtain important information about the dynamic and spatial characteristics of pasture vegetation. Methodological substantiation of remote sensing data for the assessment of pasture lands formed the basis of the conducted research. Detailed and regularly updated results of assessing the rangelands condition based on space monitoring data will increase the efficiency of using the country’s pasture resources.Materials and methods. For remote assessment of pasture lands the following methods were used: cartographic, geographical, mathematical, methods of spatial analysis of remote sensing data and geoinformation design. Optical images from KazEOSat-2 and Sentinel-2 satellites for 2021, the results of a field survey, online platforms Land Viewer from EOS and Earth Explorer from USGS were used to mapping the main indicators of pasture lands of the Pavlodar region of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a remote sensing data.Results. This article presents the results of using space monitoring methods to assess the condition and productivity of rangelands on the example of one region of Kazakhstan. Interpretation methods of remote sensing data using field data decryption and verification of data, initial cartographic data and geobotanical analysis of reference territories have been substantiated. The main stages of data processing are presented. Based on the results of the work, schematic maps of the main indicators of the pastures of the studied territory were developed according to remote sensing data, information was formed on the parameters of the productivity of the pastures of the studied territory.

Perception of transhumant herders on climate change and their adaptation strategies

Climate change is becoming one of the greatest challenges of our times questioning the survival of humanity and the coexistence of biodiversity. Its impact is realized globally in aspects of climate-induced disasters, water stresses, rangeland, agricultural, and food production. This case study confers the extent and impact of climate change on transhumant herders along with their coping strategies in Lho and Sirdibas of Chumnurbi Rural Municipality, Gorkha. Focus group discussion, key informant interview, and questionnaire survey were carried out in two wards covering herder's perception towards various climatic variability, impacts on transhumance system, and adaptation strategies undertaken for resilience. Data were analyzed using descriptive, inferential statistics and GIS such as percentage, frequency, weighted mean, index of relative ranking, Chi-square test, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), etc. were presented in figures and charts. This study showed that temperature is rising and precipitation is falling in the rural mountainous areas along with a decrease in snow cover and an increase in vegetation cover over a period of time. Seasonal movement of livestock is mainly guided by the search of forage resources and for adjusting the temperature. The impacts such as the decrease in pasture resources, increase in drought, decrease in agricultural production, etc. were perceived by the herders. Adaptation strategies such as the seasonal movement of livestock, diversification of income sources, and grazing resources were most noticed. Most of them were autonomous based on indigenous knowledge and innovation. The study recommends that the perceived changes and possible impacts of climate change to the transhumance systems need to be monitored scientifically over time. Further, more programs and policies should be developed for the resilience of the community.

A spatialised information system to support decisions regarding grazing management in mountainous and Mediterranean rangelands

Agro-sylvo-pastoral systems are common around the Mediterranean Basin, where they provide a variety of goods and services to the local populations. Their sustainability relies on efficient grazing management, especially in Mediterranean rangelands. The diversity of pastoral resources, combined with the variety of grazing management techniques and farming objectives, has slowed down the development of digital tools to assist grazing management in these conditions. However, digital technologies could serve agro-sylvo-pastoral farms by improving the efficiency of grazing management and reducing the difficulty of the associated work. In this objective, and to take into account the variety of situations, we suggest developing an information system (IS) based on a variety of (contextualised) complementary data. For southern France, the following data can be combined: Sentinel 2 images, Registre Parcellaire Graphique (RPG), OSO land use and cover, RGE Alti altimetry data, pastoral technical references, herd GPS location and feedback from farmers. However, designing and implementing such an IS requires overcoming methodological and technical limitations concerning the integration of heterogeneous structured and unstructured data and the definition of meaningful ways to combine them to produce relevant insights for decision-making. In this article, we describe an approach to produce a spatialised IS aimed at providing farmers with relevant information to support decisions regarding grazing management in mountainous and Mediterranean rangelands. The IS was codesigned with stakeholders, including farmers, to best match their needs and to facilitate its integration into farm management. The various stakeholders were involved in choosing the types of data to be associated and, defining the functions and the conceptual model of the IS. We propose to structure the IS as a spatial data lake, designed to integrate and associate the identified heterogeneous data, and to produce decision-making insights for grazing management in mountainous and Mediterranean rangelands.

Methods for using pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan

The research allowed one to prove the seasonal organization of pasture economy using the distant pasture. The studies were carried out in 2018-2021 in the semi-desert zone of Western Kazakhstan. The aim of the research is to study and select the best ways to use pastures for organizing measures for their rational management. The soil of the areas of unsystematic and seasonal grazing is light chestnut medium loamy. Driving pastures are located in the sands zone. In the summer period, an increase in the number and occurrence of valuable pasture plants Kochia prostrata, Agropyron desertorum, Festuca valesiaca, Leymus ramosus, Koeleria cristata was noted on seasonal pastures. On the distant site of sandy pastures, 23 plant species of different economic and botanical groups have been determined, and due to the natural conditions of sands in the phytocenosis, the occurrence of valuable plants in the forage ratio is high. By the middle of summer, in the area of seasonal and distant pastures, despite the loss of forbs from the vegetation composition and drying of cereals, the yield of green phytomass was 0.81-1.03 t/ha, which is 0.43-0.65 t/ha. In this work, it was concluded that to improve the efficiency of pasture resource management, it is important to use seasonal pastures with the inclusion of a distant site in pasture rotation, which is the scientific novelty of the research.

On the distribution and productivity of mountain grasslands in the Gran Paradiso National Park, NW Italy: A remote sensing approach

Mountain grazing lands are key constituents of the natural, economical and cultural heritage, but at the same time sensitive to climate and land use change, hence requiring urgent adaptation and management strategies. These must be based on a better understanding of the distribution of mountain pastoral resources across space and time.In this study we model the distribution and the productivity of grassland surfaces in a topographically complex protected area (Gran Paradiso National Park, 710 km2) in north-western Italian Alps. The objective of our work was threefold: a) modelling the distribution of mountain grasslands across the entire park at a 20-meters spatial resolution, b) classify pastoral surfaces according to productivity classes, and c) according to thirteen pastoral categories. We used a random forest approach to combine a massive terrain vegetation survey as ground truth, with remote-sensing-derived, climatic and topographic layers as predictors.Grassland presence/absence was classified with high accuracy (up to 88%) and, compared to the standard Copernicus European Grassland Product, revealed the presence of extensive high altitude grassland areas potentially available for wild herbivores. Grassland productivity was modelled with remarkably high accuracy both according to three broad productivity classes (90% accuracy) and to a more detailed classification into thirteen pastoral categories (83% accuracy). Productivity estimates agree well with satellite-derived leaf area index maps and with area-averaged NDVI seasonal patterns.We conclude that combining tailored field campaigns and high-resolution remote sensing allows for robust prediction of grassland distribution and productivity even in complex terrains. This information can contribute to improve the management of pastoral resources and promote effective adaptation strategies.

Understanding Poverty and Survival Strategy among Ethiopian Pastoralists: The Boorana Pastoralists Perspectives

Poverty is often assessed using rigorous economic methods in the extant literature. Nonetheless, understanding poverty through supposedly rigorous economic methods per se is not sufficient. This study argues that Boorana pastoralist’s knowledge of poverty and its survival strategy provides foundations to understand poverty. The article was based on a dominantly qualitative mixed research approach to understand poverty from the perspectives of pastoralists in an African context (Ethiopia). Different participatory poverty assessment methods, like focus group discussions and interviews were used. The interviews were conducted with case study households and key informants. The data were analysed by descriptions of responses and narrations of cases. The results showed that pastoralists perceive poverty as a lack of livestock, low health, lack of money, lack of education and jobs. The findings also showed that climate change and variability, deterioration of pasture and water resources, lack of education and overutilisation of resources were the main causes of poverty. Boorana pastoralists perceive that diversification of income sources, crop cultivation, improvements to pastoral education, destocking and returning to forefathers’ cultural practices can be the main survival strategy of pastoralists against poverty. Therefore, there is a need to understand the dynamics of pastoral poverty for appropriate policy interventions.

Analysis of Chloroplast Genomes Provides Insights Into the Evolution of Agropyron.

Plants of the Agropyron genus are important pasture resources, and they also play important roles in the ecological restoration. Chloroplast genomes are inherited from maternal parents, and they are important for studying species taxonomy and evolution. In this study, we sequenced the complete chloroplast genomes of five typical species of the Agropyron genus (eg., A. cristatum × A. desertorum Fisch. Schult, A. desertorum, A. desertorum Fisch. Schult. cv. Nordan, A. michnoi Roshev, and A. mongolicum Keng) using the Illumina NovaSeq platform. We found that these five chloroplast genomes exhibit a typical quadripartite structure with a conserved genome arrangement and structure. Their chloroplast genomes contain the large single-copy regions (LSC, 79,613 bp-79,634 bp), the small single-copy regions (SSC, 12,760 bp-12,768 bp), and the inverted repeat regions (IR, 43,060 bp-43,090 bp). Each of the five chloroplast genomes contains 129 genes, including 38 tRNA genes, eight rRNA genes, and 83 protein-coding genes. Among them, the genes trnG-GCC, matK, petL, ccsA, and rpl32 showed significant nucleotide diversity in these five species, and they may be used as molecular markers in taxonomic studies. Phylogenetic analysis showed that A. mongolicum is closely related to A. michnoi, while others have a closer genetic relationship with the Triticum genus.

Factors influencing migration and settlement of pastoralists in Nairobi City, Kenya

Pastoralism is globally recognized as the backbone of the economy in the vast arid and semi-arid rangelands. Despite its enormous economic contribution, the system is facing a myriad of challenges, among them, land use and land tenure changes, resulting in diminished grazing land. Accompanying such changes is the conversion of traditional grazing lands into other uses such as settlements, with urbanization being one of the key drivers of pastoral system dynamics. Understanding such dynamics in the face of compounding factors such as frequent droughts linked to climate change is key in guiding policy formulation and interventions aimed at achieving a sustainable pastoral production system. This study investigated factors determining migration and settlement of pastoralists in Nairobi City of Kenya. Data was collected through a snowball sampling approach using semi-structured household questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) in five Sub-counties of Nairobi City County. A total of 144 household interviews, 6 FGDs and 16 KIIs were conducted to elucidate drivers of urban pastoralism, opportunities and challenges encountered by pastoralists in the city. A binary logistic regression model was used to analyse the determinants of their migration. Results show that search for pasture and water resources, and alternative markets especially during droughts, are the main reasons for pastoralists’ migration to the city. In addition, educated herders were found to be more likely to migrate to the city as they pursue wage employment. Whereas these findings revealed that migration to the city exposes pastoralists to diverse livelihood opportunities, they are equally faced by a number of challenges - mainly road accidents involving livestock, frequent land displacements to pave way for development of real estates, and livestock poisoning from sewage and garbage wastes. There is a need for policy and regulatory interventions to recognize pastoralism alongside other forms of urban farming and addressing challenges facing sustainable pastoral production.

The current state of pastures in Western Kazakhstan, depending on the method of their use

The process of pasture resources management in Western Kazakhstan is complicated by the deterioration of vegetation cover with the manifestation of degradation and desertification processes as a result of unsystematic grazing. The aim of the research is to study distant pasture grazing on the productivity of pastures for their rational use. Field experiments were carried out in 2018–2021 on the pastures of the semi-desert zone of the Western Kazakhstan region on the territories of the “Miras” peasant farm in the Bokeyurdinsky district. As experimental plots, 4 pastures were selected, used in different ways: unsystematic, seasonal and distant pastures. 3 pasture areas are located on the relief part of the semi-desert zone, and the distant-pasture area is located in the sandy part of Ryn-Peski. To study the influence of the methods of use on the productivity of pastures on the polygon areas, regular observations of the quantitative and qualitative parameters (projective cover, height, species composition, yield) of phytocenoses were carried out. The research allowed to prove the seasonal organization of pasture economy using the distant pasture. In the summer period, an increase in the number and occurrence of valuable pasture plants Kochia prostrata, Agropyron desertorum, Festuca valesiaca, Leymus ramosus, Koeleria cristata was noted on seasonal pastures. On the distant site of sandy pastures, 23 plant species of different economic and botanical groups have been determined, and due to the natural conditions of sands in the phytocenosis, the occurrence of valuable plants in the forage ratio was high. By the middle of summer, in the area of seasonal and distant pastures, despite the loss of forbs from the vegetation composition and drying of cereals, the yield of green phytomass was 8.09–10.25 c/ha, which is higher than in the area of unsystematic grazing by 4.28–6.44 c/ha. In this work, it was concluded that to improve the efficiency of pasture resource management, it is important to use seasonal pastures with the inclusion of a distant site in pasture rotation, which is the scientific novelty of the research.

Forest canopy resists plant invasions: a case study ofChromolaena odoratain Sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Nepal

AbstractInvasive alien species are a major threat to global biodiversity due to the tremendous ecological and economic damage they cause in forestry, agriculture, wetlands, and pastoral resources. Understanding the spatial pattern of invasive alien species and disentangling the biophysical drivers of invasion at the forest stand level is essential for managing forest ecosystems and the wider landscape. However, forest-level and species-specific information on Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAPS) abundance and their spatial extent are largely lacking. In this context, we analysed the cover of one of the world’s worst invasive plants,Chromolaena odorata, in Sal (Shorea robusta) forest in central Nepal. Vegetation was sampled in four community forests using 0.01 ha square quadrats, covering the forest edge to the interior.C. odoratacover, floral richness, tree density, forest canopy cover, shrub cover, tree basal area, and disturbances were measured in each plot. We also explored forest and IAPS management practices in community forests.C. odoratacover was negatively correlated with forest canopy cover, distance to the road, angle of slope, and shrub cover. Tree canopy cover had the largest effect onC. odoratacover. No pattern ofC. odoratacover was seen along native species richness gradients. In conclusion, forest canopy cover is the overriding biotic covariate suppressingC. odoratacover in Sal forests.

Sustainable usage of pastoral resources of breeders in the field of animal production in El-Hamam district -Matrouh Governorat

Sustainable usage of pastoral resources of breeders in the field of animal production in El-Hamam district -Matrouh Governorat

Leichhardt, land clearing and livestock: the legacy of European agriculture in the Brigalow Belt bioregion of central Queensland, Australia

Context The Brigalow Belt bioregion of central Queensland has been extensively developed for agriculture since exploration by Leichhardt in 1844. About 4.5 million hectares of vegetation dominated by brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) was cleared as part of the Land Development Fitzroy Basin Scheme, which commenced in 1962. When the Vegetation Management Act 1999 commenced, 93% of brigalow woodland had been cleared. Grazing is the dominant land use in the Fitzroy Basin, with 2.6 million cattle over 11.1 million hectares (72% of the catchment area). This is the largest cattle herd in any natural resource management region in Australia, accounting for 25% of the state herd and 11% of the national herd. Aims The Fitzroy Basin, Queensland’s largest coastal catchment, drains directly to the Great Barrier Reef, and as reef health continues to decline, there has been increased focus on the impacts of land-use change and grazing management on hydrology and runoff water quality. The Brigalow Catchment Study sought to determine the impact of land clearing, land-use change and land management on hydrology, soil fertility, water quality and animal production in the Fitzroy Basin. Methods The study is a paired, calibrated catchment study. Catchment hydrology, soil fertility, water quality and agricultural productivity were monitored before and after land clearing and land-use change. Key results The Brigalow Catchment Study has shown that clearing brigalow for grazing in the Fitzroy Basin doubled runoff, increased peak runoff rate by 50% and increased total suspended solid loads by 80%. Soil fertility and pasture productivity also declined under grazing compared with brigalow. Overgrazing exacerbated these results, as failure to reduce stocking rate with reduced pasture productivity more than tripled runoff, peak runoff rate and total suspended solid load compared with conservatively grazed pasture. Conclusions This study demonstrates the impacts of land-use change and land management on hydrology, soil fertility and water quality. The long-term data records are a model in their own right, capable of answering land-use and land-management questions beyond the initial study scope. Implications Sustainable grazing management should consider the production limitations of depleted soil and pasture resources to minimise land degradation.

Оценка способов использования пастбищ полупустынной зоны Западного Казахстана

Abstract. The authors presented research materials on the study of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan. Purpose. Study of ways of grazing farm animals to increase productivity and rational use of pastures. The research object is the pasture lands of “Miras” farm in West Kazakhstan region. The research tasks were to select the most effective way of grazing, ensuring preservation and improvement of quantitative and qualitative indicators of semi-desert zone pastures. The research scientific novelty is in the fact that the determined grazing methods allow rational use of pasture resources and increase feed capacity of pasture lands. The studies were carried out in a semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan on a relief and sandy area of pastures. Results. Unsystematic use of pastures reduces quantitative and qualitative indicators. In summer studies, the highest content of weeds and poisonous plants (9 %) was found on a pasture of unsystematic grazing. When using this method, the proportion of cereals in the phytocenosis was at least 9 %. In the composition of the phytocenosis used in an unsystematic way, an increase in the proportion of wormwood was noted up to 15 %. Here, in comparison with the 2nd seasonal pastures, the share of herbs (poorly eaten) is also high – 21 %. On the pastures used in a unsystematic way in the spring, the yield of herbage reached only 3.81 c/ha, which is less than the seasonal pastures by 2.50–4.28 c/ha or 65.6–112.3 %. In a semi-desert zone, to provide agricultural animals with high-grade and high-quality fodder, as well as to create a stock and reduce the shortage of fodder, it is advantageous to use seasonal pastures with the inclusion of a distant pasture area in the pasture rotation. The use of distant areas for seasonal use of pastures, increasing the duration of the pasture period by 120 days, allows the farm to additionally create the volume of actual feed storage at the level of 5 499.5 centners, reducing the level of feed deficit by 2 119.7 centners or 81.03 %.

El uso de bloques nutricionales como herramienta para el manejo del pastoreo en sistemas ovinos extensivos

The improvement in grazing spatial distribution is an important goal for the efficient and sustainable management of rangelands. However, extensive livestock systems such as the Patagonian rangelands generally fails due to the large paddock size (up to 6000 ha). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategic use of nutritional blocks as an attractive element in underused areas of the landscape, in a shrub steppe of low cover (less than 50%) under dry climate. The spatial distribution of sheep was evaluated in two extensive paddocks (1900 and 5500 ha) under two sequential treatments (With nutritional blocks and Traditional management without nutritional blocks) in two years. The study was carried out using wethers of the Corriedale breed, with an average stocking rate of 0.17±0.03 sheep/ha. The geotracking of wethers was obtained by means of collars equipped with global positioning system technology, configured with a measuring frequency of 5 minutes within an average period of 15 days. The use of nutritional blocks resulted in a 46.1-57.4% expansion in the daily home range with respect to the traditional management, suggesting a more spatial homogeneous use of the paddocks by sheep. These results would have important practical implications, considering that the use of nutritional blocks would allow the combination of supplementation strategies with the sustainable use of pastoral resources.

Ranchers or pastoralists? Farm size, specialisation and production strategy amongst cattle farmers in south-eastern Kazakhstan

Against the global trend towards sedentary, specialised and feed-intensive cattle farming, we explore current patterns of production in Kazakhstan’s traditionally nomadic livestock sector. Experts see considerable potential for output expansion, and the government hopes to promote the sector as an alternative to revenues from hydrocarbons. Which production systems emerge will determine the use of the country’s vast pastoral resources, patterns of economic contribution from livestock and future greenhouse gas emissions. We focus on the beef sector, using original survey data and interviews from south-eastern Kazakhstan to compare rural households and farms by production strategy, generated using cluster analysis from data on livestock holdings, fodder provision and grazing. We examine in particular the relationships between farm size and the characteristics identified. We find that, rather than being specialised and intensive, larger farms tend to be highly diversified in terms of stock species, are more mobile and provide fewer supplements per head than smaller farms. Winter pastures appear to be a key resource associated with larger operations. Many large farms provide fodder mainly as low-quality roughage, although a subset with better access to cropland provide higher quality rations and fatten cattle before sale. Medium-sized farms lack either winter pasture bases or cropland for growing supplements, but proximity to markets enables some to compensate through fodder purchases. Inability to access government support, available only to large farms, hampers their expansion. Farmers’ professional background, distance from markets and environmental conditions are all associated with the production systems observed. In terms of policy, high transaction costs associated with leaseholds and lack of transferability between farmers impede access to land. Current pasture access mechanisms and institutions almost entirely exclude small farms and households. Changes in these systems, combined with infrastructure development, may bring economic, social and environmental benefits for the livestock sector and rural communities.