Describes the research approach adopted by an interdisciplinary ILCA team to study a pastoralist production system, summarizing the methodology & results of research on small ruminants' productivity in the Maasai pastoral system, and outlining dif. features of current smallstock research in Kenya; w. an analysis of flock productivity, mortality, animal nutrition & behaviour at the Elangata Wuas group ranch.

Land use changes in East Africa have transformed land cover to farmlands, grazing lands, human settlements and urban centers at the expense of natural vegetation. These changes are associated with deforestation, biodiversity loss and land degradation. A synthesis of results of long term research by an interdisciplinary team reveals the linkages between land use change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. The results indicate that as native vegetation is lost, indigenous plant and animal biodiversity and plant cover are lost.

A number of studies have begun to show the large impact that pastoralism has on African savanna ecosystems. Here we look at the impact of abandoned settlements on the distribution of the large ungulates of Amboseli, Kenya.

Monthly dung counts show that all 9 species studied are attracted by settlements for up to a century after abandonment.

Ethiopia has high prevalence of clinical and subclinical mastitis in different livestock

species and production systems and these contribute substantially to poor

productivity in affected herds. Thus far, studies have focused on identification of

microbial pathogens and associated risk factors for mastitis. However, relatively little

is known about the knowledge and beliefs of livestock keepers regarding prevailing

livestock health problems in general and mastitis in particular. An accurate

Describes the characteristics of dairy production and processing in South Darfur and provides an analysis of the way in which pastoral families vary their diets according to seasonal food shortages and shifting terms of trade between milk and food grains.

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a new index-based livestock insurance (IBLI)

product designed to compensate for area average predicted livestock mortality loss in

northern Kenya, where previous work has established the presence of poverty traps. We

simulate household-specific wealth dynamics based on a model parameterized using rich

panel and experimental data from the region. The simulations allow us to investigate

patterns of willingness to pay for asset index insurance that is imperfectly correlated with

Describes, briefly, sizes structures, general management and productivity of pastoral herds in the Kaduna Plains of Nigeria. Includes data on age at first calving, calving percentage, calving intervals, calf liveweight & mortality to 1 year, and milk yield of Bunaji cattle under this sedentary pastoral management system. Identifies nutrition as cause of this below-genetic-potential productivity.

Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries, has livestock as the mainstay of the economy, with an estimated 65% of the population engaged in the livestock sector. This paper presents a gendered study on the traditional livestock breeding practices of Somali pastoralists for camels, cattle, sheep and goats, with a focus on documenting livestock traits of importance, the criteria used to select male breeding animals and the criteria used to cull female breeding animals.

Improved understandings of the agricultural and range ecologies of semi-arid Africa require better information on the spatiotemporal distribution of domestic livestock across agropastoral landscapes. An empirical GIS-based approach was developed for estimating distributions of herded livestock across three agropastoral territories (around 100 km2 each) over a two-year period.

Adrian Cullis from FAO Ethiopia reflects on the recent conference in Addis Ababa on the future of pastoralism in Africa. The event's fundamental take home message is that "there is a future for pastoralism in Africa." However, it looks like there will be different futures and different forms of pastoralism - with winners and losers. He also outlines the work FAO does in this area, and comments on some issues like gender and productivity issues (of rangelands, of livestock) that received insufficient attention in the meeting.