Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism

Rangelands throughout sub-Saharan Africa are currently undergoing two major pressures: climate change (through altered rainfall and seasonality patterns) and habitat fragmentation (brought by land use change driven by land demand for agriculture and conservation).

This paper addresses pastoral resilience by drawing out the coping strategies and mechanisms utilized by the Maasai Pastoralists through a food system approach, based on the study findings of an anthropological study of pastoralism as a food system in Laikipia County, Rift Valley, Kenya.

Discussions about climate change have repeatedly regarded livestock as responsible for a significant contribution of greenhouse gas emissions. However, proper management schemes for livestock production may contribute to a reduction in emissions and, at the same time, induce optimization of production systems and intensification of food production.

Pour la première fois, les besoins et les opportunités de restauration des terres dans le cadre de la Grande Muraille Verte africaine ont été cartographiés et quantifiés afin de promouvoir les actions visant à renforcer la résilience des populations et de ces paysages confrontés au changement climatique.

La transhumance transfrontalière est trop souvent réduite à une activité génératrice de conflits qu’il est possible de régler très facilement en fermant les frontières. Cette note aux décideurs montre une réalité beaucoup plus complexe.

As the applications of Earth system models (ESMs) move from general climate projections toward questions of mitigation and adaptation, the inclusion of land management practices in these models becomes crucial.

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes are gaining popularity as an environmental and development policy tool. Spurred by environmental motives, different financial and non-financial incentive schemes are designed to create positive social and environmental impact.

Despite their recognized agricultural sustainability benefits, mixed crop-livestock farms have declined in the Northern hemisphere. As such, crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level is a promising alternative to this trend, but the knowledge of critical factors and strategies towards its successful implementation is still lacking.