Research Briefs
Sell or Move:preliminary observations about herder decision making during a prolonged drought
Peter D. Little, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
During disasters such as droughts, herders confront many difficult decisions including choices about whether to sell animals or move them to distant (and hopefully greener) pastures. From this research, practical implications are gleaned as to what steps need to be taken in order to make herding more economically reliable.
Adapting Livestock Production Systems to Climate Change: Community Capacity-Building for Better Animal Health, Feed, Soil and Water
Durga D. Poudel, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
A comprehensive study in the Thulokhola watershed in Nuwakot district, Nepal is being undertaken in order to document a livestock production system and its adaptability to climate change. These systems are currently deteriorating due to massive deforestation and forest degradation, declining soil productivity, climate change, and insufficient food and human nutrition.
Mapping Transhumance Corridors in West Africa
Matthew Turner, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA and John McPeak, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
In West Africa, pastoralists seasonally move along transhumance corridors to provide feed for their herds. Due to the role that livestock plays in pastoral life, corridor management is a major issue for village and commune-level government because of the competing needs of farmers and herders.
Cost-Effectiveness of Simple Technologies to Reduce Erosion and Promote Grass Establishment
Corinna Riginos, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
The fertility of Africa’s rangelands is very important to a large number of people who rely upon livestock for their well-being and overall food security. However, large portions of these great ranges are degraded due to a loss of grass cover and fertile topsoil, which has led to an urgent need to find practical, simple, and cost-effective approaches to restoring the health of these landscapes.
Capacity-building and Strengthening of Livestock Production
Durga D. Poudel, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Researchers have begun a detailed study in the Thulokhola watershed (Nuwakot district) of Nepal to increase the resiliency of livestock systems by record-keeping, fodder and feed analysis, and testing fecal samples for parasites. Preliminary analysis indicates that enhancing livestock feed and nutrition, as well as veterinary care, is necessary for adapting and strengthening Nepalese livestock production systems in the face of climate change.
Landscape Rehabilitation and Carbon Sequestration in N. Kenya
Corinna Riginos, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
In order to address the growing world population, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in programs to increase agricultural production in dryland areas. However, these programs often fail and can leave the land even more degraded because of a failure to consider variation in the ecological, agricultural, and productive potential of different areas. Researchers in East Africa have been trying to increase the return on investment in land management by developing a rapid approach to defining ecological sites.
Pastoralist Access to Livestock Health Services: Implications for Climate Change-Driven Disease
Ian Gardner, University of Prince Edward Island, HALI Project
Pastoralists and livestock populations in semi-arid grassland regions across the world are extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts on water, pasture, and disease dynamics. Disease, especially, can have devastating effects on livestock survival and marketability, threatening animal health and livelihoods. In order to address this growing problem, researches working in the Ruaha region of Tanzania have been preforming capacity assessments of the livestock health services available to rural pastoralists.
