Pastoral Populations Research Articles

Trade as a factor of cultural change: the case of Sardinia

The article, based on field research materials, examines from the anthropological and historical standpoints the origins of trade in the inner mountainous regions of Sardinia, considering it as a factor in changing the worldview of the population of this closed pastoral area. I discuss the specifics of artisanal, domestic, and mainly small-scale commerce and its agents, as well as the range of goods, the attitudes of the locals towards the sellers, etc. I further analyze in comparative terms the aspects of the vision of space and movement in the eyes of the pastoral and peasant populations and the merchants. I argue that the differences between the former and the latter in many ways influenced both the perception of commercial activities in the peasant milieu and the relationship between this milieu and the commercial strata. The research offers novel interpretations, since the issue of endogenous metamorphoses of traditional society, such as that of Sardinia in particular, has not been thoroughly studied up to date in the light of trade processes. Moreover, the research outcomes are relevant due to the fact that many aspects of commerce that had originated in ancient times can be still observed in the present-day trade relations of the region.

Age and Sex Structure of the Population of the Potapovo and Sintashta Cultures in the Late Bronze Age Based on the Materials of Funerary Monuments from the Volga-Ural Region

The paper analyzes the gender and age structure of the population of the Potapovo and Sintashta cultures in the late Bronze Age based on anthropological materials from a cemetery in the Volga-Ural region. According to archaeological data, both of them belong to a single cultural block; nevertheless, issues of their correlation and primacy in the time of origin are still debatable. 336 markers of gender and age definition in the individuals were applied. Calculations of the main demographic indicators were carried out; histograms of the ratio of age and gender groups were constructed for each culture under consideration. Using the principal components method, an intergroup comparison was carried out on demographic indicators of 31 series in the south of Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia. The indicators of the Potapovo and Sintashta groups have high infant mortality. At the same time, more even ratios of sex and age classes were noted for the Sintashta group of the Trans-Urals. In contrast to Potapovo, a more favorable external and internal social situation for the Sintashta population is assumed. A comparison of demographic indicators against a broader geographical and chronological background demonstrates, firstly, the convergence of the Potapovo and Sintashta groups, the manifestation of similar trends among subsequent series of log culture in the same region, and, on the contrary, sharp differences with the data of the previous pastoral Yamno-Poltavka population. Thus, the demographic indicators of the Potapovo and Sintashta cultures can symbolize the transition to new ethno-cultural living conditions, to the beginning of the formation of stationary geographical points, to the gradual settling of collectives.

Recent Research on the Human Biology of Pastoralists.

Despite encroachment by agricultural systems and globalization, pastoral nomads maintain a robust presence in terms of numbers and subsistence activity. At the same time, increasing concern about climate change has promoted awareness that increased climatic fluctuation may push pastoral population past their capacity for resilience. The response of pastoralists to climate change has important implications for our evolutionary past and our increasingly problematic future. Yet, pastoralists have received less explicit attention than foragers as populations under consistent selective constraints including limited caloric intake, high levels of habitual activity, and high disease burdens. Additional factors include exposure to cold and high temperatures, as well as high altitude. Over the last 20 or so years, the use of new techniques for measuring energetics, including actigraphs and doubly labeled water have built on existing noninvasive sample collection for hormones, immune markers and genes to provide a more detailed picture of the human biology of pastoral populations. Here I consider recent work on pastoralists from Siberia and northern Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. I survey what is known about maternal milk composition and infant health, childhood growth, lactase persistence, and adult energy expenditure and lactase persistence to build a picture of the pastoralist biological response to environmental conditions, including heat, cold, and high altitude. Where available I include information about population history because of its importance for selection. I end by outlining the impact of milk consumption and climate over the human life cycle and make suggestions for further research.

Disembedding and Disentangling Grassland Valuation: Insights into Grassland Management Institutions and Ecological Research in China

After two decades of implementing top-down grassland restoration projects focused on reducing livestock numbers and pastoralist populations, the Chinese government’s well-funded efforts have not significantly reversed grassland degradation. This study reviews the institutional changes in grassland management over the past forty years, highlighting the Livestock and Grassland Double Contract Household Responsibility System of the early 1980s and the Grassland Ecological Reward and Compensation Policy introduced in 2011. It demonstrates how these institutional transformations have shaped pastoralists’ evolving understanding of grassland value and reveals that commodifying grassland’s economic and ecological value has led to the capitalization of nature, disembedding husbandry from grassland production, and undermining the effectiveness of conservation projects. This article also showcases the development of grassland ecology research in China, noting its increasing detachment from a holistic understanding of ecosystems and the interdisciplinary needs of management practices. The disjunction between grassland ecology research and practical management has resulted in a lack of techniques aligned with local ecological and socioeconomic contexts. This article champions active engagement with and protection of pastoralist communities to reintegrate grasslands’ true economic and ecological value into management practices, thereby effectively restoring degraded grasslands and achieving sustainable management.

Transhumance Urbanism as an Urban Otherwise: Inhabiting Agrarian Incompletion at the Intersections of Extended Urbanisation‐Extended Ruralisation

AbstractAmid the ongoing transformation of agrarian territories in peripheral geographies across the world through extended urbanisation, this paper delves into the persistence of peasant and pastoral strategies amidst the closing down effects of land enclosure and fragmentation. Based on ethnographic research conducted with transhumant pastoralists in Delhi National Capital Region, this paper finds that instead of diminishing under agrarian‐urban transformation, pastoralists reassign use value to the fallows, wastelands, and surpluses of real estate speculation, thereby crafting a transhumance urbanism beyond the sedentary ontology of land and property. Understood as an urban otherwise, this urbanism remakes the fragments of material incompletion inherent within the agrarian‐urban transformation, offering socio‐ecological alternatives beyond the current impasse. The paper discusses the tentative, unsettled, and transient nature of this urbanism, which is always inter‐mixed with its non‐urban other. Contributing further to the scholarship emerging at the interstices of urban and agrarian studies, this paper calls for further comparative research on the territorial adaptation of peasant and pastoral populations routinely excluded from capitalist urbanisation processes unfolding in peripheral regions where sizeable itinerant populations coexist with extreme pressures of land enclosure.

A New Regime of Dispossession in Neo-Liberal India? Wind Energy, Hindutva, and Land Politics in Western Gujarat

Renewables in India are presented as modern technologies ensuring a pathway towards sustainable development and unlimited growth. But this story entails problematic land politics and the reconfiguration of space for resource frontiers’ expansion, local state formation, and ethno-religious authoritarian agendas: for the past 20 years, Kutch district of Gujarat state in Western India has experienced several waves of land liberalisation and industrialisation programmes, including wind power projects, but its proximity with Pakistan and the presence of Muslim pastoral populations on both sides of the border have also fostered Hindu nationalist movements since 1947. The development of wind energy projects in Western India follows traditional patterns of a regime of dispossession: a set of “inscription devices” assemble and disassemble land in a discursive, bureaucratic, and violent way and affix an official stamp of legality on damaging mechanisms of dispossession within a state-specific regime. But as wind projects move to borderland territories, their associated regime of dispossession aligns with long-term exclusive ethno-religious conceptions of space as Hindu. The unfolding land politics endorses the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral strategy to capture the remaining constituencies and co-opt minority leaders, while agents enforcing wind’s regime of dispossession see an opportunity to assert upper-caste Hindu supremacy.

Local circulation of elites punctuated by transregional mobility enabled steppe political consolidation in the Xiongnu nomadic state.

The Xiongnu polity (ca. 200 BC- 150 AD) emerged out of indigenous community-centered socio-political structures to forge a powerful state that commanded the Mongolian steppe and beyond. Underpinned by a highly mobile pastoralist population, accustomed to seasonally rhythmic moves and embedded in an equestrian culture that facilitated rapid transport over long-distances, it remains unclear precisely how the movement of commoners, local aristocrats and regional elites abetted the formation and organization of Xiongnu state structures. Here, we evaluate Xiongnu movement and dietary intake through multi-stable isotopic analyses of tooth enamel from directly dated Xiongnu intermediate elites recovered from the mortuary center of Baga Gazaryn Chuluu-a prominent granite outcrop set in the Gobi Desert. Carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis indicates millet was consumed by some individuals, but whether or not this C4 cultivar contributed to the diets of most elites remains ambiguous in this C3/C4 desert-steppe environment. The effectiveness of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) to establish mobility appears much reduced in steppe environments, where geospatially sensitive information appears disrupted by extraordinary seasonality in meteoric water oxygen isotopes, pronounced oxygen isotopic variation in potential drinking water sources, and culturally mediated drinking practices. Most revealing, strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) indicate circulation of local elites around this central place and beyond, a mobility format that helped leaders cement their own position through political consolidation of spatially dispersed mobile pastoralist communities. The consistent presence at Baga Gazaryn Chuluu of extra-local intermediate elites also points toward the importance of transregional mobility in binding together the Xiongnu polity over the vast distances of the eastern steppe.

Evaluation of a multi-component early warning system for pastoralist populations in Doolo zone, Ethiopia: mixed-methods study

BackgroundThis study evaluated an early warning, alert and response system for a crisis-affected population in Doolo zone, Somali Region, Ethiopia, in 2019–2021, with a history of epidemics of outbreak-prone diseases. To adequately cover an area populated by a semi-nomadic pastoralist, or livestock herding, population with sparse access to healthcare facilities, the surveillance system included four components: health facility indicator-based surveillance, community indicator- and event-based surveillance, and alerts from other actors in the area. This evaluation described the usefulness, acceptability, completeness, timeliness, positive predictive value, and representativeness of these components.MethodsWe carried out a mixed-methods study retrospectively analysing data from the surveillance system February 2019–January 2021 along with key informant interviews with system implementers, and focus group discussions with local communities. Transcripts were analyzed using a mixed deductive and inductive approach. Surveillance quality indicators assessed included completeness, timeliness, and positive predictive value, among others.Results1010 signals were analysed; these resulted in 168 verified events, 58 alerts, and 29 responses. Most of the alerts (46/58) and responses (22/29) were initiated through the community event-based branch of the surveillance system. In comparison, one alert and one response was initiated via the community indicator-based branch. Positive predictive value of signals received was about 6%. About 80% of signals were verified within 24 h of reports, and 40% were risk assessed within 48 h. System responses included new mobile clinic sites, measles vaccination catch-ups, and water and sanitation-related interventions. Focus group discussions emphasized that responses generated were an expected return by participant communities for their role in data collection and reporting. Participant communities found the system acceptable when it led to the responses they expected. Some event types, such as those around animal health, led to the community’s response expectations not being met.ConclusionsEvent-based surveillance can produce useful data for localized public health action for pastoralist populations. Improvements could include greater community involvement in the system design and potentially incorporating One Health approaches.

Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease that is most prevalent in Northern Europe. Although it is known that inherited risk for MS is located within or in close proximity to immune-related genes, it is unknown when, where and how this genetic risk originated1. Here, by using a large ancient genome dataset from the Mesolithic period to the Bronze Age2, along with new Medieval and post-Medieval genomes, we show that the genetic risk for MS rose among pastoralists from the Pontic steppe and was brought into Europe by the Yamnaya-related migration approximately 5,000 years ago. We further show that these MS-associated immunogenetic variants underwent positive selection both within the steppe population and later in Europe, probably driven by pathogenic challenges coinciding with changes in diet, lifestyle and population density. This study highlights the critical importance of the Neolithic period and Bronze Age as determinants of modern immune responses and their subsequent effect on the risk of developing MS in a changing environment.

Contemporizing Earthen Architecture - A Futuristic and Sustainable Approach

Abstract Utmost metropolises and municipalities in developing countries are passing a massive migration of population from pastoral areas. The maturity of the pastoral population migrates to civic areas hoping to find a job and an advanced income for their survival. This large affluence creates a high demand for civic casing and structure, which the maturity of the settlers cannot go. also, the inadequate use of low- cost traditional structure accoutrements and construction ways in domestic construction has redounded in precious casing stock for the maturity of the poor. That's thus a critical need to assess indispensable structure accoutrements and ways that are both affordable and sustainable. Stabilized earth is an indispensable structure material that's significantly cheaper than using conventional slipup and concrete, and is also environmentally sustainable. Earth has been used as a construction material on a global position since age. Earth as the building material gives a lot of potential possibilities & alternative solutions, not only to the architects or the environment-conscious planners & designers, but it will encourage & respect the volunteers of commonality & make them blend towards the field of rethinking sustainable practices with their quality of living & even pave ways for skillful labors in the mainstream of the construction industry. The objective of the study is to understand the potential of the ‘Earth’ as the building material & trace its evolution of construction techniques since the ages by analyzing the ecological aspect, challenges & thermal performance of Earthen Architecture to explore innovative construction techniques in the current context & future trends Professionally architects do have the power – we must take a lead & be actively critical & analytical about the materials we choose for the design of our buildings. But innovation towards more circular material flow is already out there. We simply need to be bold enough to understand & test their potential & put them into the field of sustainable practice – the alternative & the affordable solution just lies beneath our feet – ‘the Earth’. This study is limited to the detailed understanding of building physics revolving around the Rammed Earth |RE| construction & CSEB |Compressed Stabilized Earth Block| used in the mainstream of sustainable building construction.

Poverty and Wealth without a Ladder? An Appraisal of the Stages of Progress Method among Agro–Pastoralists in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley

Is it possible to measure wealth and poverty across settings while being faithful to local understandings? The stages of progress method (SoP) attempts to do this by building ladders of wealth in locally relevant terms and using these in comparisons across groups. This approach is potentially useful among pastoralist populations where monetary income and standard asset inventories may be misleading, and where people are discriminated against by the state and neglected by formal systems of accounting. On the basis of fieldwork among Nyangatom agro–pastoralists in Ethiopia, we expose some problematic assumptions of the SoP method. Participants did not endorse ladder-like stages from poverty to wealth distinguished by material assets, nor did they reach consensus on the definition of a poverty line. We caution that the SoP method carries risks of facipulation, and instead we advocate for multidimensional measures of prosperity based on locally relevant forms of wealth.

What is the shape of institutions? Materializing the cycles of life in an East African age class society

AbstractGiving a precise definition of what an institution is raises epistemological dilemmas concerning its supposed universal applicability and the coexistence of different institutional regimes (e.g. state and customary). Scholars who have dabbled with this question often identify rules, behaviours, values, or social roles as the essence of institutions. In fact, these constitutive features do not necessarily occupy a leading position in all societies. In this article, I argue that, among East African pastoral populations such as the Samburu of northern Kenya, institutions of age class systems are the product of the changing identities of the person's maturation process. These institutionalized life cycles regulate the distribution of powers, rights, and duties within the community. Moreover, if institutions can be different ‘things’, similarly, the objects through which they materialize can vary profoundly from one social system to another. In the case of the Samburu, customary age institutions can be perceived, performed, and manipulated in the form of songs, dances, and ornaments that represent their tangible, aural, visible, and actionable substance. Just as age manifests itself through the body, institutions founded on age take shape through sonic and kinetic bodily expressions.

Возрастная и половая изменчивость измерительных признаков головы и лица у взрослого халхасского населения Монголии

Introduction. A number of studies have shown that the Khalka rural pastoral population of Mongolia leading a traditional lifestyle is not characterized by acceleration of development and a secular trend in somatic characteristics of the body. The purpose is to study the morphological variability of head and face features in the adult rural Khalkha-Mongolian population against the background of variability of the same features in the Chuvash group and try to catch acceleration trends based on measuring head features. Materials and methods. The data (370 men and 355 women aged 18-60) was obtained during anthropoecological expeditions in 1986-1990 in 4 Khalkha-Mongolian somons. As a comparative material, data on the Chuvash of Bashkiria were used. Regression analysis was applied. The age-related variability of normalized values of cephalometric traits was assessed using variance analysis. For the Mongolian and Chuvash populations, the coefficients of sexual dimorphism of individual features of the face and head (according to V. Deryabin`s formula), as well as the Mahalanobis distance between female and male samples were determined. Results and discussion. For the studied characteristics (head length and breadth, the minimal forehead breadth and facial breadth, face height, facial and head indexes) in men, no reliable links were found between the variability of these traits and age. Variance analysis of normalized values of cephalometric signs revealed no differences in either the male or female Mongolian sample. The Mahalanobis distances calculated from the complex of head and face signs between the female and male Mongolian subsamples are noticeably smaller than the corresponding values obtained for the Chuvash group. Conclusion. Comparative studies of the age dynamics of a number of measuring features of the head for about one and a half generations of the twentieth century in Khalkha-Mongols (adapted groups) and Chuvash (populations with impaired adaptation due to changes in socio-economic environmental factors) showed weakly pronounced morphological changes in the features on the head and face in the studied population groups. There were no significant age differences in the complex of features of the face and head in the Khalkhas populations. Data on sexual dimorphism of facial and head features in Mongols and Chuvash have been introduced into scholarly discourse, and in the Mongolian population the values of indicators of sexual dimorphism of cephalometric signs are less than in Chuvash sample. @ 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

Особенности продольного роста у скотоводческого населения Южного Урала и земледельцев Средней Азии эпохи бронзы: анализ стандартизированных оценок

Introduction. In this paper, we compared patterns of longitudinal long bone growths of the Late Bronze Age population from Southern Urals, representing pastoral communities, predominantly cattle breeders, and the relatively synchronous agricultural population from Central Asia using standardized z-scores. Materials and methods. The analyzed sample comes from two cemeteries of the Srubnaya culture in Pre-Urals (Karanayevsky and Chumarovo-1), and two cemeteries of the Srubnaya-Alakul cultural type in Trans-Urals (Nepluyevsky and Yulaly-8). The comparative sample represents data from Gonur Depe, a Bronze Age proto-urban center in Southeastern Turkmenistan. The sample sizes were 32 and 56 individuals respectively, aged between 2 and 12 years old. The measurements of all six long bones and updated reference Maresh standards (mid-20th century, USA) were used to calculate z-scores. The obtained z-scores were analyzed using both parametric methods and nonparametric statistics. Results. Z-scores for the diaphyseal lengths differed significantly between the two analyzed samples. The distribution of z-scores for the Gonur Depe sample was more noticeably shifted towards lower values. In the Southern Ural sample, 6.7% of children had z-scores no lower than those in the reference group, while in the Gonur Depe sample this value constituted only 0.6%. Z-scores for the upper limb bones in both groups were significantly higher than those for the lower limb bones. In the Southern Ural sample, children under 6 years of age had significantly higher z-scores compared to 9–12-year old children. No such differences were found in the Gonur Depe sample. Discussion. The pooled Bronze Age sample from Southern Urals showed overall less stunting from the reference group compared to the Gonur Depe sample. This is consistent with the hypothesis of a smaller long bone lengths and shorter stature in agricultural compared to pastoral populations. In both groups, the lower limb bones had lower z-scores compared to the upper limb bones, indicating that growth stunting relative to the reference values is more expressed for the lower limbs.@ 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

Nothing in Excess: Physical Activity, Health, and Life World in Senegalese Fulani Male Pastoralists, a Mixed Method Approach

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the application of the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Survey (IPAQ-SF) in the rural Senegalese Fulani pastoralist population by combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Design and participants: For the quantitative method, 101 men completed the IPAQ-SF questionnaire measuring moderate, vigorous, and walking physical activity. Self-rated health, BMI, and sociodemographic variables were also collected. With regard to the qualitative methods, a total of 22 participants were recruited and interviewed. Four themes were addressed, including (i) physical activity (PA) and its definition, description, related experiences, and representations of social actors; (ii) PA and health; (iii) PA and sport; and (iv) the body and Fulani world of life (i.e., Pulaagu/Ndimaagu). Results: Sahelian herders have a high level of self-reported PA and a low amount of daily sitting time. The measure of PA as proposed by the IPAQ-SF is not adapted to the Senegalese Ferlo pastoralists, mainly because this scale gives too much importance to leisure-time PA, perceived as unproductive energy expenditure, which is factually and symbolically antinomic to the Fulani lifeworld. Thus, neither intense nor moderate PA is related to self-rated health. However, sedentary lifestyles are linked to self-rated health and, therefore, to mortality and morbidity in Fulani pastoralists. Finally, walking, which is the dominant PA during transhumance and herd surveillance, is related to BMI. It therefore represents a protective factor against the occurrence of overweight and associated chronic non-communicable diseases. Conclusion: The mixed method approach developed in this study has shown that the IPAQ-SF is not a valid measure of PA in the population of Fulani male herders from the Ferlo region, given that unproductive energy expenditure is incompatible with the Fulani way of life, which condemns excess and immoderation.

The food culture of the Iron Age nomadic elite from the ‘Valley of the Kings’ in Tuva: radiocarbon dating, stable carbon and nitrogen analysis of the Chinge Tey barrows (Turan-Uyuk Basin, Russia)

Subsistence strategies of Eurasian pastoral populations have been broadly studied in the archaeological literature. The 'Valley of the Kings' in Tuva, Russia, has captivated archaeologists with its remarkable collection of large burial mounds, containing lavishly equipped tombs of nomadic kings, warlords, and aristocracy. These barrows bear witness to the ancestral connections between the deceased leaders, highlighting the alliances among prehistoric nomads in Central Asia. In this research, we present comprehensive radiocarbon dating and δ13C/δ15N isotopic data from the Chinge Tey barrows, which represent the burial sites of 12 high-ranking individuals. The chronological alignment of both Chinge Tey monuments with the Arzhan 1 and Arzhan 2 reference frames sheds light on their historical context. This study delves into intricate aspects of ecological adaptability, pastoral food practices, social hierarchies, and nomadic mortuary rituals. Analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes indicates potential connections between the barrows in the 'Valley of the Kings' and diverse nomadic cultures, suggesting that dietary habits among neighboring populations may have exhibited significant variation.

Pastoralism and Tourism in Eastern Africa—Quantitative Analysis from 2004 to 2018

Eastern Africa is a relatively dry area, with a considerable pastoralist population, which is among the poorest segments of society. Pastoralism is a form of subsistence lifestyle, and while pastoralists produce a large proportion of the region’s livestock products, they are not covered well by statistical recording. Pastoralists are experts in keeping livestock in arid rangelands, but they often suffer from land alienation, environmental degradation, and conflict with other land use intentions. The semiarid rangelands in Eastern Africa are home to spectacular savanna wildlife populations, attracting substantial conservation and tourism revenues. Estimations indicate that pastoralism generates significant economic values in the national income due to livestock production and maintenance of tourism attractions. To assess this contribution, the concept of total economic valuation (TEV) is applied. The main aim of the paper is to analyze the contribution of pastoralism to the tourism-related GDP of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, where considerable numbers of pastoralists live. Because of the lack of statistical data on pastoralism, the second objective is to construct a database of indicators that measure the extent of pastoralism for these countries for 2004, 2014, and 2018. The methodology includes the construction of the above database using secondary sources, and then to apply correlation and regression analysis on this database and the economic and tourism performance data series of the studied four countries. The results of the analysis showed that the extent of pastoralism is positively related to GDP and to value added by tourism and agriculture, and international tourism receipts are positively related to pastoralism’s contribution to GDP. The tourism competitiveness index (TTCI) was found to be negatively related to the size of the pastoralism sector. The policy implications of our findings are that pastoralist societies are increasingly important not only for their marketed economic output, but for their services provided to tourism and to the environment; therefore, instead of neglecting them, they should be more in the focus of development.

Challenges and prospects of managing non-acute medical conditions among pastoral populations in sub-Saharan Africa.

In Africa, pastoral populations face several underrecognized health issues. The livelihoods of pastoralists revolve around possession of livestock and they are constantly moving in search of water and pasturage. They are predisposed to chronic zoonotic infections but may also suffer from non-acute non-zoonotic cosmopolitan infectious and non-infectious chronic medical conditions. Given their migratory lifestyle, livelihood, geographic inaccessibility, communication barriers, illiteracy and poverty, it is challenging for pastoralists to access lengthy inpatient clinical care and long-term periodic follow-up that may be required to achieve control or cure of subacute, chronic or lifelong diseases. The challenges and management modalities of complicated subacute bacterial endocarditis requiring critical clinical considerations, long-term medical and surgical interventions in a stateless Arab camel herder are described to highlight the plight of pastoralists. Innovative clinical and public health strategies are suggested to authorities and healthcare institutions to improve access to care for non-acute diseases among them.

Influence of Pastoral Settlements Gradient on Vegetation Dynamics and Nutritional Characteristics in Arid Rangelands

An expansion of pastoral settlements in arid rangelands can increase pressure on fragile ecosystems. High stocking rates and inappropriate rangeland management can cause large, difficult-to-reverse changes in the composition and structure of rangeland ecosystems. This study aims to understand changes in vegetation composition (cover, density, biomass, richness, diversity) and nutritional characteristics of range vegetation along a gradient of increasing pastoral population in arid rangelands of Pakistan. Three sites were selected for sampling within three areas classified by their distance from settlement: Near, Away, Far (9 sites in total) belt transects (10 × 150 m). A total of 90 transects (30 each in classified sites) of size 10 × 150 m were placed at a distance of 100 m apart from each distance group. Results identified 28 species from nine plant families. We found a significant difference in vegetation characteristics along the gradient. Vegetation diversity increased along the settlement gradient, highest being in the far sites. Density, plant cover and biomass were greatest at the sites near pastoral communities and decreased as the distance from the settlements increased. Palatable species were characterized by low density and diversity near herder’s villages, but values increased as the distance from the villages increased. An increase in shrubs was observed near pastoral settlements, resulting in higher plant cover, biomass and density in these sites. This study identified anthropogenic impacts on rangeland structure and composition and found large shifts near communities. The frequent monitoring of vegetation resources is important, and the development of sustainable conservative strategies are recommended to ensure harmonious coexistence of pastoral populations in arid rangelands.

Assessing Mbiotisho: A smartphone application used to collect high-frequency health and nutrition data from difficult-to-reach populations.

There is an urgent need for improved and timely health and nutrition data. We developed and tested a smartphone application that caregivers from a pastoral population used to measure, record and submit high-frequency and longitudinal health and nutrition information on themselves and their children. The data were assessed by comparing caregiver-submitted measurements of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) to several benchmark data sets, including data collected by community health volunteers from the participating caregivers during the project period and data generated by interpreting photographs of MUAC measurements submitted by all participants. We found that the caregivers participated frequently and consistently over the 12-month period of the project; most of them made several measurements and submissions in at least 48 of the 52 weeks of the project. The evaluation of data quality was sensitive to which data set was used as the benchmark, but the results indicate that the errors in the caregivers' submissions were similar to that of enumerators in other studies. We then compare the costs of this alternative approach to data collection through more conventional methods, concluding that conventional methods can be more cost-effective for large socioeconomic surveys that value the breadth of the survey over the frequency of data, while the alternative we tested is favoured for those with objectives that are better met by high-frequency observations of a smaller number of well-defined outcomes.