Reducing Herd Size Research Articles

Developing sustainable dairy farms in the tropics: From policy to practice

CONTEXTSustainable dairy production is included in the policy agenda of many countries in the tropics to address, among others, their commitment to the Paris Agreement. To the best of our knowledge, however, a study to assess the impact of the proposed interventions for sustainable dairy production is still lacking for most of those countries. Using policy goals as entry points to develop scenarios can provide insight into the impact of policy interventions on dairy farming practices. OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to evaluate the implication of interventions towards sustainable dairy development identified by the governments of Indonesia and Costa Rica. METHODSInformation about current farming practices (i.e. the baseline) were collected on 32 smallholder dairy farms in Indonesia and 24 dairy farms in Costa Rica. Scenarios were designed based on policy goals for dairy development and climate change mitigation in each country. The scenarios for Indonesia encompassed relocation of the dairy sector to Sumatra to allow coupling of livestock to land combined with a restriction on manure production to ensure all manure to be applied to grow forage, and a restriction on the amount of purchased feeds, at two levels: maximally 100% and 50% of the baseline. The scenarios for Costa Rica included a silvopastoral system and a reduction in the amount of purchased feeds, at two levels: 50% and 80% lower than the baseline. We estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at chain level and carbon (C) stocks at farm level. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe scenarios for Indonesia increased herd size and milk output by 240–360%, and GHG emissions per farm by 269–455%, while decreased GHG emissions per kg milk by 1–10%, compared to the baseline. C stocks per farm were higher in the scenarios than in the baseline, but compared to natural vegetation much more C is lost under the scenarios because more land is being used. The scenarios for Costa Rica reduced herd size and milk output by 5–25% and GHG emissions per farm by 17–35%, while GHG emissions per kg milk decreased by 10%, compared to the baseline. C stocks per farm were comparable. SIGNIFICANCETo achieve the multiple policy goals for sustainable dairy development, the governments need to consider the trade-off between increasing milk production and reducing GHG emissions. In Indonesia, relocation of the dairy sector needs a strict policy to avoid the expansion of dairy farms into tropical forest land. Furthermore, the Costa Rican government needs to incentivise dairy farmers to implement a silvopastoral system to reduce GHG emissions and land use. This, however, will be at the expense of milk output.

The Impact of Climate Change on California Rangelands and Livestock Management

On a global scale, rangelands occupy approximately half of the world’s land base surface; have a critical role in carbon sequestration and biodiversity; and support a diverse and critical economy, but at the same time, are under threat by many factors, including climate change. California rangelands, which are no exception to these aforementioned characteristics, are also unique socio-ecological systems that provide a broad range of ecosystem services and support a >$3 billion annual cattle ranching industry. However, climate change both directly and indirectly poses significant challenges to the future sustainability of California rangelands and, ultimately, the management of livestock, which has important economic implications for the state’s agricultural economy. In this study, we examined the changes in overall climate exposure and climatic water deficit (CWD), which was used as a physiological plant water stress gauge, to evaluate potential impacts of climate change on various rangeland vegetation types across California. We used two downscaled global climate models, MIROC and CNRM, under the ‘business-as-usual’ emissions scenario of RCP8.5 at a mid-century time horizon of 2040–2069 and known vegetation–climate relationships. Using the models, we predicted climate change effects using metrics and spatial scales that have management relevance and that can support climate-informed decision making for livestock managers. We found that more than 80% of the area of the rangeland vegetation types considered in this study will have higher CWD by 2040–2069. We evaluated these results with beef cattle inventory data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture by county and found that, on average, 71.6% of rangelands in the top 30 counties were projected to be highly climate-stressed. We found that current proactive and reactive ranching practices such as resting pastures, reducing herd size, and rotational grazing may need to be expanded to include additional strategies for coping with declining plant productivity.

Exploring policy options to transform traditional dairy system in Ethiopia: A system dynamics approach

Despite having a larger herd size and a favourable climate, Ethiopia generally lags behind developing nations in terms of both production and consumption of dairy products. For the purpose of finding and assessing ways to increase milk production by the traditional dairy system in Ethiopia's West Shewa zone, we integrated system dynamics (SD) modelling with a participatory model building approach. The main objective of the research was to develop SD model for West Shewa dairy value chain and apply it to assess ex-ante milk production and dairy household profit impacts of various interventions. The interventions evaluated in the study include enhanced urea treatment of crops residue, increased production of improved feed, and investment in more dairy cows. Analysis reveals that policies targeting feed development can boost milk production and household profits above the baseline. They also lead to a higher seasonal variability in milk production. Through the feed development strategy producers can achieve a 70 % and 735 % increase in milk production and household profit, respectively. However, the implementation of improved feed policy still leaves a gap in the average feed protein requirement of a dairy cattle in the study area. On the other hand, policy of increasing cow herd is not profitable. In addition, improved feed policy in drought results in reduced herd size, yet it leads to a higher milk output and household profit. Hence, with the feed development options explored in this study, increasing herd size is not a recommended course of action for improvement of the West Shewa dairy value chain. Therefore, future research should explore for further enhancement of the supply as well as quality of feed resources and the potential of investment in improved breeds.

Assessment of Livestock Feed Resources and Coping Strategies with Dry Season Feed Scarcity in Mixed Crop–Livestock Farming Systems around the Gilgel Gibe Catchment, Southwest Ethiopia

In the current study area, livestock are an integral part of the mixed farming system, and play very important roles as sources of draught power, nutrition, cash income, employment and poverty alleviation. However, feed shortage, especially during the dry season, is the most important constraint to optimal productivity. This study aimed to investigate livestock feed resources and feeding practices, coping strategies with seasonal scarcity, and to identify major constraints to livestock production in a mixed farming system around the Gilgel Gibe catchment, southwest Ethiopia. Data were collected from 342 households using a structured questionnaire. The results showed natural pasture, crop residues, stubble grazing, and roadside grasses were the main feed resources, in that order. None of the respondents practiced improved forage cultivation due to insufficient land and lack of knowledge on forage production and utilization. Free grazing was the most predominant feeding system. Almost all respondents experienced dry season feed scarcity. Conserving crop residues and hay, purchasing roughages, reducing herd size and renting grazing land were the major coping strategies to feed scarcity. The farmers’ perceived major constraints to livestock production were feed shortage, animal diseases, and low productivity of local breeds. Institutional, technical and technological interventions are suggested to alleviate the constraints to livestock production in mixed crop-livestock systems in the study area and outside with similar settings.

Dairy Cattle Feed Quantity, Nutrient Balance and Feed Scarcity Coping Mechanism in Kedida Gamela Woreda, Kembata Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The study was conducted in Kedida Gamela Woreda of Kambata Tambaro Zone, Southern Ethiopia, with the goals of estimating the amount of available feed resources, estimating the nutrient balance, and assessing the coping mechanism of dairy cattle in relation to agro-ecologies and seasons in the study area. Multistage sampling procedures were used. The mean dry matter (DM) produced per household in the highland and midland was 3.4 and 3.7 tons (P< 0.05), respectively, while the required amount was 8.5 and 8 tons, with a negative balance of 5.1 and 4.3 tons (P < 0.05). The mean DM produced per household during the wet and dry seasons was 4.1 and 3.1 tons (P < 0.05), respectively, while the required amount was 7.9 and 8.6 tons, with a negative balance of 3.9 and 5.5 tons (P < 0.05). As a result, farmers increased their use of concentrates and non-traditional feeds, improved forage production, transferred stocks to relatives, and reduced herd size as coping mechanisms in response to feed scarcity.

Dairy Cattle Husbandry Practices and Coping Strategies Against Feed Scarcity in Buno Bedele Zone, South Western Ethiopia

The study was aimed with to study dairy cattle husbandry practices and coping strategies against feed scarcity in selected districts of Buno Bedele zone, south western Ethiopia. Both purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select kebeles and household respondents. For this study, a total of 384 households were used for an interview. Of the total land size occupied by the respondents, higher proportions (5.07±2.739) were used for communal grazing land followed by land for cereal production (2.86±1.495); land for coffee (1.02±0.965) and land for forest land (0.85±0.585). As the current result indicated majority (42.9%) of the households were used communal natural pasture as the main feed source, especially during the wet seasons; and road and river side and aftermath grazing (15.6%) were also used as feed resource in the study areas. As compared with tethering during wet grazing (27.8%), free grazing (72.12%) remains the major and dominant feeding system practiced in the study areas. In the study area grain leftover (27.6%) were the major supplementary feeds followed by and mill by products (20.3%) and house wastes, <i>atela</i> and common salt (19.01%). River (72.13%), pip water (22.1%) and deep water (5.73%) were the major drinking water in the study areas. Of the total respondents, majority (72.65%) of them housed their dairy cows in open kraal followed by adjoin house (22.92%). As the current study indicated <i>Trypanosomiasis</i>, Mastitis, Foot and mouth disease (FMD) were the commonly occurred diseases of dairy cattle reported by 23.44%, 19.8% and 17.7%, respectively. Changing feed recourse based on availability and cost (26.3%), rent land and grows fodder (23.7%) and reducing herd size (21.4%) were the available copying strategy against feed scarcity, respectively in the study areas.

HANPP trajectories for Ethiopia reveal recent agricultural efficiency gains but high grazing intensity

This study presents long-term trajectories of biomass flows and dynamics of land use change of Ethiopia between 1961 and 2013. The data from FAO sources are analysed using the Human Appropriation Net Primary Production (HANPP) methodology. By 2015, the population of Ethiopia reached the 100 million mark, with about 80 million Ethiopians subsisting on agricultural production. The average farm size was less than 1 ha. Cereal production yields have remained comparatively low. Productivity of the country’s livestock population continues to be low and about half of the cattle is held for traction. 90% of the total energy demand of Ethiopia is covered from biomass. Study findings show that the total share of potential Net Primary Productivity appropriated for human activities (or HANPP) stands at 63% by 2013. Per hectare biomass extraction from cropland triples in the study timeframe and cropland production increases hint at strong efficiency gains in the last two decades. On grazing land, total HANPP increases from 37 to 68%, mainly due to degradation modelling. Grazing amounts to one-fifth of the total biomass extracted. Ethiopia’s grazing intensity is among the highest observed globally. Forest and woodland HANPP stands at 53% in 2013. By 2005, Ethiopian HANPP levels are more than three times the average for Africa. The demonstrated levels of biomass appropriation from cropland, grazing land and forests may increase negative impacts, such soil degradation and erosion. Promoting sustainable farming practices, improving livestock productivity while reducing herd size, as well as increasing energy efficiency will be vital to reduce impacts on natural resources.

Pastoralists’ use of income diversification as a strategy for adapting to social-ecological change in Samburu, Kenya

Pastoralists in the Samburu region of Kenya, like many pastoralists around the world, have endured significant effects of social-ecological change. Improvements in infrastructure, access to education, roads, and cellular networks, combined with changing land tenure systems and impacts from more frequent extreme weather events place Samburu herders squarely in the middle of substantial change. In our study, we interviewed 100 pastoralists to determine how income sources changed over the past 20 years, following an extreme drought in 1998, as a measure of adapting to change. Questions about livestock holdings, income sources, and household demographics were used to conduct a cluster analysis and group comparisons that indicated Samburu pastoralists have chosen one of three primary paths in the past 20 years: increased herd size and retained pastoralism as a primary income source; reduced herd size but retained livestock herding as the primary income source, while adding other modest sources of income; and substantially reduced herd size and pursued non-herding options as a primary income source. Our results show a number of differences among Samburu pastoralists, and the extent to which paths were chosen primarily to alleviate adverse impacts from social-ecological change is unclear, as community members provided numerous explanations for changing herd size.

Coping mechanisms adopted by the livestock dependents of drought prone districts of Bihar, India

Coping mechanisms adopted by the farming community has recently become a subject of increasing importance in climate change research with an objective to reduce the vulnerability of climate sensitive people. The present study was designed to identify and assess the coping mechanisms adopted by the livestock dependents to mitigate the impact of drought on their livestock rearing and livelihood security. A total 240 livestock dependents from three drought prone districts of Bihar were interviewed and an exclusively Drought adaptation Index was developed for this study. The study revealed that 49 adaptation strategies were adopted by the livestock dependents which were further distributed into seven broad categories. Most significant coping mechanisms were feeding of extra crop residues, providing frequent extra clean and fresh feed and water, storage of wheat/rice straw, change in cropping pattern, feeding and milking during cool hours, kept animal in shadow, extra bathing of cattle, feeding of extra concentrate, selling of animals and reducing herd size. The study also established that adoption of coping mechanism was increased significantly with the increase in degree of drought proneness and herd size was the most significant contributor to the higher level of adoption of coping mechanisms.

Climate Change and Variability in Semiarid Palapye, Eastern Botswana: An Assessment from Smallholder Farmers’ Perspective

Abstract Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and variability in semiarid contexts. Despite the limited adaptation options often used and the largely subsistence agriculture practiced, studies have shown that smallholders have accumulated local knowledge about changes in climatic conditions. Farmers with field experience and an extensive stay in three sites in Palapye, eastern Botswana, were interviewed. This study related farmers’ perceptions of changes in climate with results from analysis of climate data. Major changes perceived are a reduction in rainfall amount, rising temperature, and increasing frequency of drought conditions. Perceived reduction in rainfall amount is confirmed by analysis results as variability in rainfall amount is high throughout the series. Rainfall was poorly distributed and below average at the beginning of the cropping seasons for four years between 2013 and 2017. For 1990, 2003, and 2012, the standardized precipitation index (SPI) was −1.77 (severe drought), −1.37 (moderate drought), and −2.32 (extreme drought), respectively. To minimize impacts on crop production, farmers simultaneously planted different crops based on the perception that climatic impacts on different crops vary and favored crops perceived as drought resistant. Livestock farmers supplemented with livestock feeds, reduced herd size, and moved livestock to areas with better forage. Off-farm incomes from selling products harvested from the wild are important to farmers as a coping strategy, particularly when rain fails. Some female farmers brewed and sold alcohol made locally from sorghum. That local knowledge and perceptions exist and are used by smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change and variability is suggested. Engaging with local knowledge systems is an imperative for climate change policy making.

The assessment and the farmers' perceived ranking of feed resources and coping strategies with feed scarcity in smallholder dairy farming in selected district towns of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia.

Inadequate quantity and quality of feed resources are major constraints limiting milk production and reproductive performance of dairy cattle in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess dairy cattle feed resources, feeding practices, the farmers' perceived ranking of feed resources, causes of feed shortage, and coping strategies to feed scarcity in smallholder dairy system in selected district towns of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. Data were obtained by interviewing 52 randomly selected smallholder dairy farmers using structured questionnaires and through direct observations. Results showed that 20 main feed types used by dairy farmers were identified and categorized into natural pastures, crop residues, green feeds, hay, agro-industrial by-products, concentrate mix, and non-conventional feeds. Overall, natural pasture (mean rank=0.453), non-conventional feeds (0.307), cut green feeds (0.086), conserved hay (0.076), crop residues (0.049), and concentrate feeds (0.029) were ranked as the main feed resources in decreasing order of importance. Natural pasture grazing (92.2% of the respondents), hay (35.6%), and green feeds (29.4%) were the most important conventional basal feeds used. Wheat bran (11.7% of the respondents) followed by commercial concentrate mix (9.4%), Noug seedcake (8.3%), grain (7.8%), and molasses (6.1%) were the concentrate supplements used. Overall, bulule-flour mill leftovers (67.2% of the farmers), bean and pea hulls (57.2%) and atella-local brew by-product (37.2%), enset (Ensete ventricosum, 34.4%), and sugarcane top (32.2%) were the non-conventional feeds available and used during feed scarcity. Barley and teff (Eragrostis teff) straws and maize and sorghum stovers were the main crop residues used in the dry seasons. Overall, 73.9, 12.2, 12.2, and 1.7% of the respondents practiced free grazing, zero grazing, semi-zero, and a combination of zero- and free-grazing systems, respectively. Over 84% of the respondents in the dry season and 50% in the wet season reported experiencing a shortage of feeds. Poor feed availability (73.9% of the respondents) was reported as the main causes of feed shortage followed by shortage of pastureland (7.8%). Increased use of bulule (55.6% of the respondents), crop residues (16.1%), non-conventional feed resources (14.4%), conserved hay (11.1%), purchased green feeds and concentrates (1.1%), and reducing herd size (1.1%) were the farmers' adopted coping strategies to mitigate feed shortage. It is suggested that technical intervention to improve the quality and efficient utilization of the existing feed resources is crucial to enable sustainable feed supply and boost milk production. Technologies that are easy to adopt, feasible, and low cost are also needed to be developed in participatory manner.

Assessment of feed resources, feeding practices and coping strategies to feed scarcity by smallholder urban dairy producers in Jimma town, Ethiopia.

Smallholder dairy production is increasingly becoming popular in Jimma town. However, feed shortage is a major constraint to dairy production. The objectives of this study was to assess feed resources, feeding practices and farmers’ perceived causes of feed shortage and coping strategies to feed scarcity in smallholder dairy producers in Jimma town, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. A total of 54 randomly selected dairy farmers were interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire and through direct observations. Twenty major feed types used by dairy farmers were identified and categorized into five classes: natural pasture grazing, green feeds, hay, concentrate (commercial mix and agro-industrial by-products) and non-conventional feed resources. Green feeds-fresh or succulent grasses and legumes (mean rank = 0.361), concentrate (0.256), hay (0.198), non-conventional feeds (0.115) and natural pasture grazing (0.070) were ranked as the main feed resources in that order of importance. Green feed (94.4 % of the respondents) was found to be the main basal diet of dairy cattle. Overall, wheat bran (85.2 % of the respondents), commercial concentrate (55.6 %), noug (Guizotia abyssinica) cake (20.4 %), cotton seed cake (7.4 %) and molasses (7.4 %) were the main concentrate supplements used (P > 0.05). Local brew waste (attela) (77.8 % of the respondents), bean and pea hulls (42.6 %) enset (Ensete ventricosum) leaf and pseudo-stem (37 %), sugarcane tops (33.3 %), banana leaf and stem/stover (16.7 %) and papaya stem (16.7 %) were the dominant non-conventional feed resources in the surveyed area (P > 0.05). About 79.6, 7.4, 1.9 and 11.1 % of the farmers used zero-, semi-zero-, and the combination of zero- and semi-zero- and free-grazing systems, respectively. Most farmers (90.7 %) offered concentrate supplements to milking cows. However, supplementation did not consider milk yield, physiological status and condition of cows. All the farmers (100 %) offered common salt to their cattle as mineral supplement. The majority (98.1 %) of the farmers experience feed shortage in the dry season. Land scarcity (55.6 % of the respondents) was reported as the most important cause of feed scarcity followed by a combination of land scarcity and poor feed availability (42.2 %). Increasing use of agro-industrial by-products and commercial concentrate mix (87 % of the respondents), increasing use of hay (74.1 %), increasing use of non-conventional feeds (50 %), purchasing green feeds (19.8 %) and reducing herd size (2.7 %) were the strategies adopted for coping with feed scarcity. From results of this study, it could be concluded that to ensure sustainable availability of dairy cattle feed in the surveyed area, technological, technical and institutional innovations would be vital.

Caracterización de los agroecosistemas con producción ovina en el oriente de Yucatán, México.

&lt;p&gt;El objetivo de este estudio fue caracterizar y agrupar los agroecosistemas con producción ovina de la región oriente de Yucatán, México. Este estudio se realizó de agosto 2012 a abril 2013. Se aplicó un cuestionario semiestructurado mediante entrevista al 93% de los productores de siete municipios, que manejaban ovinos dentro de sus agroecosistemas. Se realizó un muestreo aleatorio, análisis de conglomerados, ANOVA mediante GLM y comparación de medias por Tukey (P&amp;gt;0,05). Se obtuvieron cuatro grupos diferentes de agroecosistemas con ovinos: GA (responsables con edad avanzada, escolaridad media, alta cantidad de tierras, rebaños grandes y más años de practicar la ovinocultura), GB (responsables de edad intermedia, mayor escolaridad y cantidad intermedia de tierras, tamaño intermedio de rebaño), GC (responsables de edad avanzada, menor escolaridad, baja cantidad de tierras y reducido tamaño del rebaño) y GD (responsables más jóvenes, escolaridad alta, baja cantidad de tierras, rebaño pequeño y menor tiempo de realizar la actividad). La ovinocultura fue la primera, segunda y tercera opción productiva para el 12, 75 y 11,8% de los productores, respectivamente. En la región, la ovinocultura es una actividad practicada desde hace más de quince años en algunos casos, sin embargo, solamente es la prioridad económica de un pequeño grupo de productores. El acceso a recursos determinó su grado de desarrollo y fue evidente la falta de organización entre los ovinocultores.&lt;/p&gt;

The impact of system changes to a dairy farm in south-west Victoria: risk and increasing profitability

A case study modelling approach was used to examine changes to a dairy farm in south-west Victoria to maintain or increase profit in the future 5–10 years in the face of some ‘cost-price squeeze’, emphasising impacts on both returns and risk. Five changes to the status quo system were analysed. Each involved increasing pasture consumption on the milking area and non-milking leased area (where appropriate). The five changes were: (1) reducing leased non-milking area by 100 ha; (2) converting 60 ha of non-milking leased area to milking area, reducing leased non-milking area by 100 ha and reducing stocking rate on the milking area; (3) converting 187 ha of leased non-milking area to milking area, increasing herd size to 800 cows and reducing stocking rate on the milking area; (4) discarding all leased area, reducing herd size to 370 cows and reducing stocking rate; and (5) converting 127 ha of non-milking leased area to milking area, discarding all other lease arrangements and reducing stocking rate. Mean ± standard deviation of nominal owner’s equity at the end of Year 10 was $2.59M ± $1.33M, $5.42M ± $1.26M, $5.76M ± $1.21M, $7.47M ± $1.64M, $6.01M ± $0.78M and $6.10M ± $1.19M for the status quo and development options 1–5, respectively. For most but not all of the development options, the risk associated with the profit, cash and equity as measured by a range of indicators improved markedly over the performance of the farm system under the status quo. Both substantial increases and decreases in herd size were attractive. Irrespective of the direction of change in herd size, the most profitable options involved reducing stocking rate per ha and reducing purchased supplementary feed compared with the status quo. Significantly, changing to increase productivity greatly reduced the risk of having less equity at the end of Year 10 than the starting equity. Optimising the amount of home-grown grazed feed, and using purchased supplements efficiently are important, particularly if the milk being sold is subject to export market prices and variation. The most appropriate changes to dairy farm businesses in response to changes in the operating environment will vary from farm to farm – but maintaining the status quo in the face of change is not an option that meets farm family goals.

Mixed farming in a grazing reserve in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria's main pastoral development strategy is the settlement of pastoralists in grazing reserves. The goal of the strategy is to turn such nomadic pastoralists into mixed farmers who will take up crop farming to supplement livestock farming. Using the Bobi Grazing Reserve, Niger State, Nigeria as case study, the attainment of this goal is evaluated by the use of structured questionnaire, interviews, field surveys, project site visitation and personal observation. From the results, ninety-five percent (95%) of settled pastoralists willingly adopted mixed farming as an economic survival strategy. This was in response to reduced herd size on settlement, in the face of declining-land available for nomadism among other reasons. Average herd size of 41.5 cattle, 14.0 goats and 7.5 sheep was insufficient to supply household income need hence settlers took up crop farming to supplement income. Annual income from livestock farming (N62, 182. 00) was 78.1% of total income per settler, while crop farming supplied 21.9% (N17, 400) of the income. Farmers farmed a mean 3.97 hectare out the maximum 4.00 hectares allowed in the reserve. Ninety-five percent of settlers expressed willingness to expand farm size in response to domestic needs. Thus hitherto nomadic pastoralists became mixed farmers on settling in the reserve. Mixed farming therefore appears to be an achievable goal in Nigeria's pastoral development strategy. Key words: Grazing Reserves, Mixed Farming, Pastoral Development

A reindeer herder's perspective on caribou, weather and socio-economic change on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Non-climate variables shape vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change. Here, we describe how recent environmental and socio-economic developments have transformed reindeer herding and perceptions of weather on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The reindeer industry has shrunk considerably since the early 1990s, when the winter range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd expanded, and over 17 000 reindeer mixed with migrating caribou and left the region. Socio-economic and environmental repercussions make the continuation of herding tenuous, and erode the ability of herders to cope with weather variability, among other perturbations. We present a case study of one herder’s annual cycle, and juxtapose physical drivers of herding activities, including weather-station and herder observations of local weather variability, with socio-economic factors. There is an increased urgency to access and monitor reindeer with caribou present, but herding plans are constrained by lower economic returns and the need to spend more time in non-herding jobs. Although weather is a greater concern now for immediate herd access, standard weather data are largely irrelevant to the mechanics of herding, whereas variables pertaining to the timing of biotic events (e.g., synchrony of spring break-up and calving) and visibility are attributed to lost herding opportunities. Short-term responses to weather conditions stem from more longterm vulnerability associated with caribou presence, reduced herd size, difficulties affording snowmobile maintenance or crew assistance, and dwindling market opportunities. We emphasize the environmental and socioeconomic interactions that affect vulnerability and adaptive capacity for modern herding.

A reindeer herder’s perspective on caribou, weather and socio-economic change on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Non-climate variables shape vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change. Here, we describe how recent environmental and socio-economic developments have transformed reindeer herding and perceptions of weather on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The reindeer industry has shrunk considerably since the early 1990s, when the winter range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd expanded, and over 17 000 reindeer mixed with migrating caribou and left the region. Socio-economic and environmental repercussions make the continuation of herding tenuous, and erode the ability of herders to cope with weather variability, among other perturbations. We present a case study of one herder’s annual cycle, and juxtapose physical drivers of herding activities, including weather-station and herder observations of local weather variability, with socio-economic factors. There is an increased urgency to access and monitor reindeer with caribou present, but herding plans are constrained by lower economic returns and the need to spend more time in non-herding jobs. Although weather is a greater concern now for immediate herd access, standard weather data are largely irrelevant to the mechanics of herding, whereas variables pertaining to the timing of biotic events (e.g., synchrony of spring break-up and calving) and visibility are attributed to lost herding opportunities. Short-term responses to weather conditions stem from more longterm vulnerability associated with caribou presence, reduced herd size, difficulties affording snowmobile maintenance or crew assistance, and dwindling market opportunities. We emphasize the environmental and socioeconomic interactions that affect vulnerability and adaptive capacity for modern herding.

Biodiversity conservation and pastoralism—reducing herd size in a communal livestock production system in Richtersveld National Park

Biodiversity is a critical component of the natural environment and the protection of it often meant the displacement of local communities in developing countries. The Richtersveld National Park (South Africa) is unusual in that it forms part of the Richtersveld communal rangeland and is currently managed for goat and sheep farming as well as biodiversity conservation under a contractual agreement. These two objectives are not regarded as mutually compatible and have created tension between conservation management officials and pastoralists. We set out to examine the consequences of reducing herd size in a communal livestock production system in support of biodiversity conservation in a protected area. Kidding, animal offtake (sales and slaughter), mortality and herd persistence showed no clear incentives for an individual pastoralist to reduce herd size. Reducing herd size is not considered a recommended intervention for the conservation of biodiversity or livelihood improvement of pastoralists in the park. The future of the natural resources of the national park is dependent on a delicate balance between the needs of the pastoralists and the conservation of those very same resources that the pastoralists use.