Presents results of a 6 year study on the livestock production systems, management practices herd & flock demography in an agropastoral system in central Mali as well as reproductive performance growth rate, weights, mortality, offtake and productivity in terms of meat & milk yield of cattle & small ruminants; includes recommendations on means of improving the system and future research.

Reviews various approaches and techniques used in a number of sub-Saharan African countries to collect and analyze data on large-scale ecological changes with particular reference to remote sensing and monitoring techniques in resource inventory; suggests ways to build more effective data bases.

Discusses ways of collecting livestock data, mentioning the usefulness and techniques of low-level aerial surveys to gather information on animal numbers; and methods of recording weight changes and milk yields.

Discusses the need for data on voluntary offtake & acquisition of livestock in pastoral production systems, and considers methods through which desired data can be collected, particularly multiple-visit, and single-visit progeny history technique.

In Cameroon, rangelands occupy about 20 % of surface area; provide critical habitat to many animal and

plant species; offer many vital goods and services to society and are home to pastoralists, agropastoralists,

crop farmers, fishermen and hunter-gatherers, who for centuries co-existed peacefully. In

recent years this harmony is being threatened by changing land use patterns, poor land use planning and

poor recognition of ownership rights. Despite efforts by state and non-state actors to improve pastoral

The first chapter gives a brief description of a pastoral production system, as envisaged by the study team and outlines the multi-disciplinary approach of the study, its sampling design and the data collected. Chapters 2 & 3 describe Kenya's biophysical and socio-economic environments, within which the Maasai livestock production system operates. The biophysical environment of the study site is described in detail in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 describes the social organization of the Maasai and how it affects their use of livestock and grazing resources.

There is consensus that pastoral mobility is beneficial for both pastoralists and the environment. However, rapid change arising from multiple factors, including landscape fragmentation, sedentarization, and demographic drivers might affect the effectiveness of this pastoral coping strategy in times of drought. We investigate livestock mortality rates following the 2005 drought in four areas in Maasailand: the Maasai Mara, the Kitengela plains, the Amboseli, and the Simanjiro plains.

Mohamed Said, Scientist, ILRI, at the side event, “Measuring and Evaluating Resilience in Drylands of East Africa.” IFPRI 2020 conference on Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security, May 15-17, 2014, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. More information "http://www.2020resilience.ifpri.info"