Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Agro-pastoralism'

The Maasailand of Kenya and Tanzania supports one of the richest wildlife populations remaining on Earth. However, over the last century, Maasailand has experienced land transformation notably through conversion of former rangelands to croplands. With the anticipated human population increase in East Africa, more impacts should be envisaged on these rangelands. This thesis investigates the root causes and underlying drivers of land-use change in the Maasai-Steppe ecosystems, stemming from historical, socio-cultural, political as well as the biophysical conditions. To analyse the different drivers of change, an integrated methodological approach was employed. This included a collation of historical data and information derived from both gray and published literature, analysis of remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data, field surveys, workshops, observations, as well as personal communications. Observed land-use change from savannah rangelands to expansive croplands are mainly linked to government policies, land tenure, human population growth (which is also likely to be the largest future driver) and climatic conditions. Consequently these changes have impacted the agro-pastoralist community, whose main incomes for their livelihoods depend on pastoralism. Subsequent loss of formerly communal grazing lands to establish protected areas; large-scale farming and/or private ranches have aggravated the problems of sedentarization due to villagization and privatization policies of the formally mobile agro-pastoral communities. Land-use change also had negative impacts on migratory wildlife species, particularly those utilizing both protected areas and dispersal ranges in communal and/or private lands. The impacts ranged from loss of their migratory routes and corridors to massive declines of populations due to the loss of access to grazing resources. The study recommends government’s interventions for keeping the land open for access to grazing resources as well as opening up wildlife corridors, where it is deemed necessary for national interests.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008.
Title from electronic title page (viewed Oct. 5, 2009). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology." Discipline: Anthropology; Department/School: Anthropology.

The concept of gender becomes significant when associated with variable and unpredictable effects of climate change. It is important to assess the linkages and outcomes between humans and their environment. I highlight the level of vulnerability and burdens on the different genders and discuss how these environmental influences are shifting what we will considered “traditional” social norms and responsibilities within rural households of Kenya and Tanzania. For agricultural and pastoral communities in eastern Africa, drought triggers many socio-economic alterations that lead to great shifts in traditional roles and daily duties especially for women. The key focus of this study relies on changing gender dynamics as a result of intensified and prolonged episodes of drought, considering male and female interactions and coping strategies. Using my case study of Ayalaliyo, Tanzania as a springboard, I will be analyzing women’s vulnerability, increased workloads, health implications, and alternative incomes as well as male disempowerment in the rural communities of Kenya and Tanzania. I aspire to find the connections between women and the environment and detect whether or not there have been similar changes in gender roles as a result of climatic changes throughout the rest of East Africa’s farming communities. I will be concluding by tying these effects to a more global perspective on the importance of gendering climate change adaptations.

Understanding how social-ecological changes influence the resilience of dryland agro-silvo-pastoral systems can offer new perspectives on current sustainability challenges. In this study I use mixed methods to explore how resilience thinking can guide development towards sustainable and just future pathways in the Sahelian part of northern Senegal. A combined analysis of regional statistical data and local actors’ perceptions of recent development revealed five key patterns of change: 1) decreased annual precipitation, 2) lack of pastures and environmental degradation, 3) improved rural water access and an opening-up of previously isolated areas, 4) adaptation strategies, and 5) decentralization. Participants’ rankings of context-specific resilience metrics based on the seven principles for building resilience, indicate a low to moderate current resilience of the agro-silvo-pastoral system and a decline in general system resilience over the past decades. The analysis highlights the need for greater recognition of pastoral mobility and groundwater recharge dynamics in natural resource management, along with challenges of inequities and power assymetries among actors, while also pointing to the potential of local initiatives to support development in the Senegalese Sahel. By synthesizing changes and assessing their influence on the resilience of the agro-silvo-pastoral system, the study shows how resilience assessments can be used to understand system dynamics and illustrate development paradoxes in the Senegalese Sahel.

This thesis presents findings from a qualitative enquiry into the rapid uptake of the mobile phone by pastoral communities in Tanzania and its use as a tool to tackle marketing constraints. The research design involves an interregional comparative analysis of two key production regions: Arusha and the Lake Zone, and two groups of livestock producers (the Maasai pastoralists and Wasukuma agro-pastoralists respectively). Applying the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) perspective from Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular the concept of 'appropriation', the study examines the embrace of mobile phones by those producers - who keep livestock under the extensive (pastoralist) and semi-intensive (agro-pastoralist) systems respectively. The thesis examines the extent to which the mobile phone is changing how livestock keepers interact in the livestock market and how this is affecting their livelihoods. The thesis shows that the significance of the mobile phone varies with user groups; for instance, for the Maasai who still lead a nomadic life, the mobile phone is used 'conservatively' to communicate about herd management and to coordinate household affairs in ways that do not substantially disrupt traditional social practices and roles. In contrast, the Wasukuma agro-pastoralists use mobile phones to introduce new processes to support production and marketing, one good example being the strategy used to coordinate transportation of cattle to market. The study findings suggest the extension of the 'appropriation' (Williams, Stewart, & Slack, 2005) conceptualisation by adding the possibility of a spectrum from shallow to extended according to users' role and the context of use. Nevertheless, and in more generic terms, it is possible to say that the mobile phone use did not disrupt some of the traditional practices and trade customs amongst the Maasai, and it has reinforced the innovative behaviour of the Wasukuma. The thesis also examines a parallel initiative whereby aid agencies and public bodies in Tanzania supported the development of the Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS), as an ICT platform designed to improve the livestock market by sharing market information. However, studies show that LINKS has not had the intended effect, is not trusted and has not been adopted by many pastoralists. The study shows how the concept of trust, which is key in market dynamics and trade relations, has been reshaped, because the mobile phone has supported informal communications that reinforce traditional methods of policing trust in the market. The thesis contributes to ongoing debates surrounding the conceptualisation of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). The failure of early ICT4D initiatives was attributed to a failure to address users' specific requirements, due to gaps in the translation process, as well as to socio-political and technical fragilities such as the lack of adequate infrastructure, and a deficient social learning process. The initial reworking of ICT4D highlighted the need to design technology as a specific solution appropriate to particular contexts/user groups. These were seen as finished solutions (corresponding to the idea of a 'technical fix'). Focusing upon 'appropriation', in line with the Social Shaping of Technology - Mark 2 approach - allows scope for a further rethinking of ICT4D which addresses not just design but the active role of users in shaping technological innovation to the context and purposes of communities in developing countries.

Le secteur apicole fait face à d’importantes difficultés depuis le début des années 2000, qui se traduisent par une grande variabilité des rendements et d’importantes mortalités. La diminution de la qualité et de la quantité des ressources florales fait partie des facteurs qui expliquent ces difficultés. En France métropolitaine, plus de la moitié de la production de miel est issue de ressources florales directement produites par l’agriculture (colza, tournesol, lavande, prairies). La modernisation agricole est toutefois citée comme l’une des principales responsables de la diminution, en quantité et en qualité, des ressources florales disponible pour les apiculteur·rices, à cause notamment de la simplification paysagère qu’elle occasionne. Dans ce contexte, trouver des voies alternatives de développement agricole, plus favorables aux ressources florales, semble nécessaire. Quels sont les freins et les leviers à l’émergence de telles alternatives à l’échelle territoriale ? C’est la question à laquelle cette thèse cherche à répondre.Pour cela, elle combine une approche technico-économique et une approche sociale des interactions entre apiculture et agriculture. Ces approches sont appliquées à un territoire d’étude marqué par l’agropastoralisme, le Mont Lozère. Le Mont Lozère est riche d’une longue histoire apicole, et présente une variété de ressources florales qui sont le produit de l’agropastoralisme à différentes échelles spatiales (parcelle, paysages, versants) et temporelles (saison de production, pluriannuelle, pluridécennal).Notre analyse technico-économique aborde l’apiculture comme une activité agricole, intégrée dans un système agraire. Nous identifions une diversité de systèmes de production apicoles, et les ressources florales qu'ils exploitent. Cela conduit à repérer les pratiques agricoles les plus favorables aux ressources florales, et le freins et leviers technico-économiques à leur mise en place par les agriculteur·rices. Sur le Mont Lozère, l’augmentation de la productivité physique du travail agricole, comme en plaine, est responsable d’une réduction de la production de ressources florales. Des systèmes économes et autonomes sont favorables aux ressources florales, mais leur généralisation est freinée par plusieurs mécanismes politiques et de marchés.Notre approche sociale s’intéresse aux relations existantes entre agriculteur·rices et apiculteur·rices, ainsi qu’aux représentations et aux valeurs associées aux ressources florales. Nous identifions ainsi des freins et des leviers à l’engagement dans des actions en faveur des ressources florales. Nous montrons que les relations professionnelles entre apiculteur·rices et agriculteur·rices améliorent l’accès des apiculteur·rices aux ressources florales, mais ne conduisent pas à produire plus de ressources florales. Les apiculteur·rices sont doté·es d’un très faible pouvoir de négociation auprès des agriculteur·rices. Les motivations à l’action en faveur des ressources florales est faible, tant chez les apiculteur·rices que chez les agriculteur·rices. Néanmoins, des médiations entre apiculteur·rices et agriculteur·rices mis en place par d’autres acteur·rices, et la mise en évidence des liens entre pratiques agricoles, ressources florales et développement territorial pourrait susciter un regain d’intérêt pour l’action en faveur des ressources florales.Cette thèse, pionnière dans l’analyse systémique des interactions entre apiculture et élevage, montre la convergence entre enjeux apicoles, enjeux environnementaux et enjeux de développement rural, en lien avec le développement des systèmes économes et autonomes. Elle montre également l’intérêt potentiel pour des structures de développement rural de contribuer au rapprochement entre ces deux mondes. Cette thèse fournit un cadre pour penser l’intégration de l’apiculture et des ressources florales dans les systèmes agraires, qui mériterait d’être déployé dans d’autres territoires, dans une visée comparatiste
The beekeeping sector has been facing major difficulties since the early 2000s, reflected in highly variable yields and high mortality rates. The decline in the quality and quantity of floral resources is one of the factors behind these difficulties. In mainland France, more than half of honey production comes from floral resources produced directly by agriculture (rapeseed, sunflower, lavender, meadows). However, agricultural modernisation is cited as one of the main reasons for the decline in the quantity and quality of floral resources available to beekeepers, not least because of the simplification of the landscape. Against this backdrop, it seems necessary to find ways to foster agricultural development pathes that are more favourable to floral resources. What are the obstacles and levers to the emergence of such alternatives on a landscape scale? This is the question that this thesis seeks to answer.To do this, it combines a technical and economic approach with a social approach to the interactions between beekeeping and agriculture. These approaches are applied to a study area marked by agro-pastoralism, the Mont Lozère. The Mont Lozère has a long history of beekeeping, and offers a variety of floral resources that are the product of agropastoralism at different spatial scales (plots, landscapes, slopes) and temporal scales (production season, multi-annual, multi-decennial).Our technico-economic analysis approaches beekeeping as an agricultural activity, integrated into an agrarian system. We identify a diversity of beekeeping systems and the floral resources they exploit. This leads us to identify the agricultural practices that are most favourable to floral resources, and the technical and economic obstacles and levers to their implementation by farmers. On the Mont Lozère, the increase in the physical productivity of agricultural labour, as in lowlands, is responsible for a reduction in the production of floral resources. Frugal systems are favourable to floral resources, but their generalisation is hampered by a number of political and market mechanisms.Our social approach focuses on the existing relationships between farmers and beekeepers, as well as the representations and values associated with floral resources. In this way, we identify the obstacles and levers to the involvement in actions to promote floral resources. We show that professional relationships between beekeepers and farmers improve beekeepers' access to floral resources, but do not lead to an increased production of floral resources. Beekeepers have very little bargaining power with farmers. Motivation for action in favour of floral resources is weak, among both beekeepers and farmers. Nevertheless, mediation between beekeepers and farmers by other actors, and the identification of links between agricultural practices, floral resources and territorial development could lead to renewed interest in action to promote floral resources.This thesis, a pioneering systemic analysis of the interactions between beekeeping and livestock farming, shows the convergence between beekeeping issues, environmental issues and rural development issues, in connection with the development of frugal systems. It also shows the potential interest for rural development structures in helping to bring these two worlds closer together. This thesis provides a framework for thinking about the integration of beekeeping and floral resources into farming systems, which should be deployed in other areas, with a view to comparison

Sur la Montagne limousine et dans le Lodévois, deux petites agricoles respectivement de moyenne montagne humide et de piémont méditerranéen du Massif central, le développement de l'élevage centré sur l'accroissement de la productivité physique du travail a conduit à l'augmentation de la part des fourrages distribués et des aliments concentrés dans l'alimentation des troupeaux et au recentrage du pâturage sur les prairies. Les parcours, qui fournissaient auparavant la base de l'alimentation des troupeaux, ont été progressivement abandonnés, ou ont pu faire l'objet de plantations de résineux. À rebours de ce mouvement dominant, quelques éleveurs ayant un accès limité aux terres moto-mécanisables ont au contraire cherché à replacer au centre de l'alimentation de leurs troupeaux le pâturage des parcours, ce qui implique une modification systémique des logiques de production. L'analyse du fonctionnement technico-économique de ces systèmes agro-pastoraux révèle une importante réduction des besoins en fourrages et aliments concentrés, qui se traduit par des investissements en matériel agricole et des achats d'intrants très limités. Malgré une baisse des niveaux de production par animal et une taille de cheptel élevé par actif inférieur, ces systèmes qualifiés d'économes sont bien plus créateurs de richesses et d'emplois agricoles que ceux restés dans le mouvement de développement agricole dominant, tout en utilisant des terres qui seraient autrement à l'abandon. Si ces systèmes économes semblent pouvoir constituer une alternative au développement agricole dans ces régions, leur diffusion reste limitée par les débouchés pour une production agricole hors des standards de l'aval et par le mode actuel d'attribution des subventions de la Politique Agricole Commune, dont ils bénéficient moins et qui peuvent entraver leur fonctionnement
On the Limousine Moutain and the Lodévois, two small middle mountain and foothills regions of the Massif central, animal husbandry development focused on increasing physical productivity of human work led to an increased part of fodder and concentrated feeds in the flock diet, and increased the grassland use at the expense of the rangelands. One the basis of flock feeding, those rangelands were mainly abandoned or planted with conifers. Several breeders with limited access to moto-mechanized areas go against this dynamic. Thus, they try to reorganize the alimentation of their flocks around diversified rangeland grazing, which implies a systemic modification of production logics. The technoeconomic analysis of these agropastoral systems indicates a significant reduction of fodder and concentrated feed needs and consequently allows less farm equipments investments and input purchases. Comparing the economic results of agro-pastoral farms and farms that have remained within the dominant agricultural development movement shows that despite the reduction of the production per animal and the flock size per active person, these systems called frugal create more added value and help maintaining or even creating jobs in areas that would have been abandoned otherwise. This frugal agro-pastoral systems seems an alternative to the dominant agricultural development in these two middle mountain and foothills regions. However, the development of these systems on a larger scale is currently restrained by the lack of short-circuit outlets for agro-pastoral products, which are often out of step with standard products. Furthermore, the current subsidies allocation of the Common Agriculturis is less advantageous for agropastoral systems and can also impeach their running

Dans l’ensemble des cinq massifs préalpins français septentrionaux auquel il appartient, le massif des Bornes-Aravis présente un trait distinctif qui intrigue : celui de ne comporter qu’une réserve naturelle très restreinte, située sur la marge lacustre. En cela, il se démarque de ses homologues et voisins, dotés de vastes parcs naturels régionaux et de géoparcs, garants du maintien d’un cadre de vie de qualité. Rétifs à toute mesure de protection territoriale, les élus locaux affirment que l’empirisme guidé par la sagesse, ainsi que le savoir-être traditionnel des populations locales, se substituent avantageusement à l’établissement d’espaces protégés dont les effets seraient, à leurs dires, préjudiciables au développement économique. Dans ce contexte, on est fondé à éprouver quelques craintes quant à la pérennité de l’esthétique paysagère, qui constitue le facteur indispensable à l’attractivité touristique, moteur essentiel de l’économie alpine. On peut aussi s’interroger sur les chances de voir se maintenir une situation de « double mise en valeur équilibrée » (Bätzing, Rougier, 2006). Bien que s’adaptant volontiers aux impératifs de l’économie contemporaine, la société locale a su jusqu’ici limiter l’altération de sa culture et de son patrimoine naturel. En témoigne un système agro-pastoral dynamique et relativement prospère, indispensable au maintien de la qualité du cadre de vie. Les habitants des Bornes-Aravis déclarent vouloir éviter que leur massif ne devienne un espace de loisirs pour citadins. Les schémas de cohérences territoriales récemment élaborés prennent en compte ces enjeux.L’analyse menée tout au long de cette étude portera une attention toute particulière à l’évolution des dynamiques spatiales influant sur le devenir de la beauté paysagère, qui constitue la richesse essentielle de ces montagnes de moyenne altitude. Celle-ci devrait être valorisée notamment par une médiation scientifique non pas sporadique et fragmentaire telle qu’elle l’est actuellement, mais conçue selon une cohérence en lien avec l’identité du territoire
Of the five northern french pre-Alpine ranges to which it belongs, the mountains of Bornes-Aravis has a distinctive feature that is intriguing: it has only a very small nature reserve situated on the fringes of Lake Annecy. In this it differs from larger neighboring parks, and more recently, geoparks, all guarantee of maintaining a high quality of life.Reluctant to adopt any measure of territorial protection, local officials say that empiricism guided by wisdom, and traditional know-how of native populations, outweigh the establishment of protected areas whose effects would be prejudicial to their priority of economic development. In this context, it is reasonable to harbour fears about the sustainability of landscape aesthetics, which is an essential factor attracting tourists, a key driver of the alpine economy. Native societies readily adapting to the demands of the modern economy, whilst limiting alterations to their cultural and natural heritage. As a result of that process, one can notice the existence of a dynamic and relatively prosperous agro-pastoral system, essential to maintaining the quality of life. The inhabitants of the country say they want to prevent it forbecoming a land of leisure for city dwellers. However in the absence of specifically protected areas guaranteeing environmental quality, one can only wonder about the chances that the « dual balancing improvement » (Bätzing, Rougier, 2006) will be maintained. Patterns of territorial coherence that have recently been developed aware of these stakes. That is why the analysis conducted throughout this study will pay particular attention to the evolution of spatial dynamics affecting the future of scenic beauty, which constitues the essential richness of these highlands. This matter should be valued notably by a scientific mediation not sporadic and fragmentary such as it is it at present, but conceived according to a coherence in link with the identity of the territory

Le changement global est un processus complexe englobant des changements environnementaux, climatiques, sociaux, économiques, culturels et politiques. Il a toujours affecté les systèmes agropastoraux du monde entier et compromis leur durabilité, entraînant de profonds changements tels qu’un déclin de la ressource pastorale, du nombre de troupeaux, une tendance au sédentarisme, une diversification des moyens de subsistance et même un abandon d’activités pastorales.Partant de l’hypothèse que les agro-pasteurs de régions différentes font face à des défis similaires et partagent les mêmes contraintes mais que leurs stratégies d’adaptation sont affectées par leur contexte local qui améliore ou affaiblit leur durabilité, ce projet de recherche vise à évaluer la durabilité des systèmes agro-pastoraux au Liban face au changement global.Premièrement, les défis affectant la durabilité des systèmes agro-pastoraux au Liban ont été identifiés à travers une revue de la littérature sur les pâturages et l'usage des terres. Six principaux défis ont été identifiés : i) Manque de politique spécifique au pastoralisme et au régime foncier, ii) Urbanisation et migration rurale, iii) Concurrence de l'agriculture, iv) Déforestation et surpâturage, v) Manque de compétences techniques et de données pour la gestion des parcours et vi) Variabilité climatique.Deuxièmement, la perception du changement des éleveurs de petits ruminants de la Beqaa Ouest a été évaluée et leurs stratégies d’adaptation identifiées. Les contraintes perçues par les pasteurs variaient selon le système de production auquel ils appartenaient et étaient principalement liés à l'accès et la qualité des pâturages, aux incertitudes de marché et politiques, à la variabilité climatique, aux conditions socio-économiques sur l'exploitation et à la santé animale. En l'absence de soutien gouvernemental, les agriculteurs de tous les systèmes ont mis au point des stratégies d'adaptation à court terme qui impliquent plus de temps consacré aux pâturages, davantage de fourrage et une réduction de la taille du troupeau. De plus, le mouvement des troupeaux se limitait aux pâturages autour des villages ce qui témoignait du passage au sédentarisme.Troisièmement, la durabilité des systèmes agro-pastoraux de la Beqaa Ouest et du Chouf a été évaluée à travers l'analyse de la filière du fromage traditionnel «kishk» typiquement préparé avec du lait de chèvre. La production de kishk a été maintenue par les femmes rurales et le kishk s'est révélé être un produit résilient malgré les changements dans les variétés de blé et les fluctuations dans la source et la quantité de lait. Les systèmes de petits ruminants se sont avérés plus résilients que les systèmes de production de blé.Quatrièmement, l’analyse de systèmes de bovins laitiers dans la zone d’étude a pour but de scénariser l'intensification possible pour quelques agro-pasteurs, notamment l'optimisation de l'alimentation, l'utilisation de technologies appropriées, la diversification et accès au marché.Enfin, une analyse comparative a été réalisée entre l’étude de cas libanaise et sept courts métrages filmés dans des zones de parcours contrastées (plateau tibétain, grande prairie canadienne, région bédouine égyptienne, Sahel sénégalais, pampa uruguayenne, Serra Gaucha brésilienne et Provence française). Les propos et contraintes signalées dans les sept films ont été confrontés à ceux du Liban en particulier la variabilité du climat et la nécessité de politiques spécifiques régulant l'utilisation des parcours et valorisant leur diversité.Les agro-pasteurs du monde entier sont confrontés à des forces similaires de changement comme la variabilité climatique, l'inadéquation des politiques et l'avenir incertain de la jeunesse. La mise en oeuvre de politiques pastorales spécifiques intégrant la perception des agro-pasteurs assure l’efficacité de ces politiques et la durabilité de ces systèmes
Global change is a complex process encompassing environmental, climatic, social, economic, cultural and political changes. It has always affected agro-pastoral systems worldwide and compromised their sustainability resulting in tremendous changes of the pastoral systems including a decline in rangeland resources and the number of herds, sedentarism trends, diversification of livelihoods and even abandon of farming activities.Based on the hypothesis that agro-pastoralists in contrasted areas of the world face similar challenges and share same concerns but their adaptive strategies are affected by their local context which either enhances or weakens their sustainability, this research project aims at assessing the sustainability of agro-pastoral systems in Lebanon which are undergoing global forces of changes.First, the challenges affecting the sustainability of agro-pastoral systems in Lebanon have been identified through a review of the literature on pasture and land use in Lebanon. Six main challenges have been identified: i) Lack of policies and laws related to pastoralism and land tenure; ii) Urbanization and rural migration; iii) Encroachment by agriculture; iv) Deforestation and overgrazing; v) Lack of technical skills and data for range management; and vi) Climate variability.Second, the perception of change of small ruminant farmers in the West Bekaa of Lebanon has been assessed and their adaptation strategies identified. The constraints perceived by the farmers varied based on the production system they belonged to and were mainly related to pasture access and quality, market and political uncertainties, climate variability, on-farm socio-economic conditions and animal health. In the absence of government support, farmers from all systems developed short-term adaptive strategies involving more time spent on pastures, more feed supplementation and a decrease in herd size. Moreover, herd movement was limited to the pastures around the villages hence evincing the shift to sedentarism.Thirdly, the sustainability of agro-pastoral systems in the West Bekaa and Chouf was evaluated through the analysis of the value chain of the traditional cheese “kishk” typically prepared with goat milk. Kishk production has been maintained by rural women and kishk proved to be a resilient product despite the changes in wheat varieties and fluctuations in the source and quantity of milk. Small ruminant systems were found to be more resilient than wheat production systems.Fourthly, the dairy bovine systems in the West Bekaa and Chouf-Aley were identified using a system typology, in an attempt to present them as a model for intensification for some agro-pastoralists particularly in feed optimization, use of appropriate technologies, diversification of activities and market access. The dairy bovine system provided an insight for the intensification of the small ruminant sector in Lebanon for those who can afford it.At last, a comparative analysis was done between the Lebanese case-study and seven short movies filmed in contrasted areas of rangelands (Tibetan Plateau, Canadian Great Prairie, Egyptian Bedouin area, Senegalese Sahel, Uruguayan Pampa, Brazilian Serra Gaucha and French Provence). The gaps and challenges reported in the seven movies were found comparable to those identified in Lebanon specifically in regard to climate variability and the need for specific policies that regulate the use of rangelands and valorize their diversity.Agro-pastoralists in Lebanon and around the world are facing similar forces of change namely climate variability, inadequacy of rangeland policies and the uncertain future of youth. The implementation of specific rangeland policies integrating the perception of agro-pastoralists ensures the efficiency of these policies and the sustainability of traditional pastoral systems

Grounded in multi-sited fieldwork within an agro-pastoralist highland village in Southwest Angola and in ethnology museums in Europe, Angola and Namibia, my research interweaves an ethnographic and a historical approach to better understand the meanings and social relationships generated by what I call “elusive dolls”: dolls that are difficult to find and slippery when encountered. The study explores postcolonial significances of African dolls, made by agro-pastoralist people, which have been sparsely collected for display in museums since colonial times. Using multiple field methods such as participant observation, archival research, photo-elicitation, and filmmaking, I trace the social relationships involved in the making of dolls in Southwest Angola and in the housing of the same kind of dolls in ethnology museums, paying particular attention to the material and social networks established around the practices of making and collecting them. Following the logic of local languages (olunyaneka, oshikwanyama), I use the notion of “crafted ‘children’” to define handcrafted dolls made of different materials, and address the meanings these dolls embody for makers, collectors and museum curators. I take a historical perspective to examine the dimensions of storage, research and display and address contrasting curatorial approaches to dolls in museums. While most curators have tended to focus on dolls and their supposed functions, a few have engaged with dolls in relation to other domains of the lifeworlds of rural makers and their skilled practices. Examining the limits of historical ethnographic research about local doll-usage, I build upon these alternative approaches by curators and ethnographically explore the relational dimensions of these dolls in two worlds in which they have material and social lives: Southwest Angola and ethnology museums. Firstly, I examine the regional diversity of these dolls, as crafted “children”, in the rural context through a situated understanding of ethnic and ecological diversity and rural-urban relations. Secondly, I explore the twofold notion of labour – that is, the labour in crafting and the labour in making a living - in the regional domestic economy of agro-pastoralist populations, showing how a resilient rural lifestyle, local and urban resources, seasonal demands, and personal skills linked to age and sociality generate and shape the practices of doll-making. Finally, I examine drawing and photography in published and unpublished material about dolls and show how the visual connects the worlds of curators, field-collectors, makers and ethnographers. A large part of the literature on ethnology museum collections tends to focus on “repatriation”, discussing relations between museums and “source communities”. By contrast, an analytical framework connecting doll-making and collecting, the regional conditions of a crafting practice and its local immersion in rural everyday life, appears only marginally in the literature - this is where my research makes a significant contribution. My thesis contributes to critical museology research, Africanist studies, and visual anthropology and engages with debates on materiality and skill. The film that accompanies the thesis, Making a Living in the Dry Season, is grounded in a long-term stay in a village, and examines the twofold notion of labour mentioned above through the practice of doll-making. I recommend first reading the thesis up until Chapter three, followed by watching the film, and then turning to the remaining chapters.

The Jiroft valley, in southeastern Iran, was an important agricultural centre since the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BCE). The valley is characterized by harsh environmental settings: hot climate with poor rainfall. However, more optimal conditions may have prevailed earlier that supported ancient settlements. A 250-cm sediment core was retrieved from a peat-land at Konar Sandal, a major archaeological find attributed to Jiroft culture. The palynological data from this core was combined with geochemical and sedimentological proxies aimed at establishing the human-environment interactions in the area. The study focus was directed at vegetation history and landscape evolution, hydroclimatic changes and past human activities, that started just after the projected collapse of the Jiroft (4 ka) and extended all the way from the late Bronze Age to the Mongol invasion (0.6 ka). The results indicate that the valley was dominated by Saharo-Sindian open pseudo-savannah vegetation for the last 4000 years. However, due to anthropogenic clearance and intensified agro-pastoral activities, and also climatic factors, the land cover shifted from open xeric scrubland forests to more open, degraded landscapes. The principal human practice in these early settlements was cereal cultivation. But it is likely that during the more arid periods, communities retreated and abandoned agriculture, facilitating successional processes. Such droughts occurred in 4-3.8 ka and 3.4-2.8 ka and were supported by palynological data, C/N and Fe2O3 content. Peat formation was characteristic to the wetland during these arid periods. These droughts corresponded to drought phases detected in other studies, and were attributed to changes in Siberian Anticyclones. Dynamics of Artemisia and desert shrubs indicate milder climate around 3.8-3.4 ka and 2.8-0.6 ka. In the latter episode, during the rule of Persian Empire (ca. 550 BCE-650 CE) and Islamic epoch, the highest vegetation degradation state and most intensive human activities were observed. Some inconspicuous human practices, such as date cultivation, may have occurred on site as an adaptation to extreme environmental conditions.
High-resolution paleolimnological records from Lake Jazmurian: Climate-culture evolution at Jiroft in southeast Iran during the Holocene

The Fulbe Jelgobe, like many other Sahelian pastoral groups, are becoming increasingly vulnerable to chronic food insecurity. They live in a landscape that exhibits a complex patchiness and extremely variable rainfall patterns. When their food security is threatened, the Fulbe Jelgobe act skillfully on the basis of local knowledge in employing a complex array of coping responses that seek to meet immediate food needs while preserving a base for future livelihood activity. These responses involve the manipulation of household asset portfolios, modifying household consumption patterns, access to common property resources and the activation of networks of social relationships. The reinforcement or enhancement of such responses is a credible means of improving food security. This thesis reports on an attempt to apply action research amongst the Fulbe Jelgobe in Northern Burkina Faso, focusing on case studies of action research in two Fulbe communities. These communities provide the context for understanding a particular food insecurity situation by taking action to improve it. The process was co-designed and co-managed by action research groups formed in both locations. These groups included diverse stakeholders who cooperated with me in learning how to contextualise the Participatory Action Research process to improving local food security. A third, general action research process is underpinned by ten years of previous experience in the area and ethnographic research that provides an understanding of the context for Fulbe subsistence strategies. While the process of participatory Action Research is perceived to be useful in such vulnerable livelihood contexts, the participatory process itself is viewed as problematic and frequently more partisan than many adherents to the process would accept. There is a complex web of motivations driving local stakeholders participation. Rather than extended dialogue aimed at achieving consensus, as many popular participatory approaches envisage, it is a matter of continually re-negotiating cooperation among stakeholders with diverse interests and capabilities in order to secure continuing participation in a heuristic learning process. Treating Fulbe agro-pastoralism holistically as social praxis, a locally managed Participatory Action Research process facilitated improved food security by reinforcing coping options and enhancing local organisational capacity to interface with development organisations. Participatory Action Research provided a framework for the design and management of food-for-work programs aimed at developing an infrastructure for dry-season gardening in both locations. The action research group in one location became the management committee of an association of some 80 people that was formally registered with the government under the name of Dewral. This association, which is still functioning, facilitates the cultivation of 25 hectares of lakeside gardens. These gardens are an important addition to the members' mix of food procuring activities.

Central-northern Namibia is home to an approximate 43% of the country’s population, a large proportion of which still depends directly on natural resources for their livelihoods. The main land use in this area is agro-silvo-pastoralism i.e. a combination of subsistence farming and silvi-culture. The few phytosociological and biodiversity data available in Namibia are not substantial to motivate environmental management and sustainable utilization of the country’s natural wealth. The Vegetation Survey Project of Namibia coupled with the BIOTA southern Africa Project therefore share a common goal of re-classifying Namibian vegetation by building on the Preliminary Vegetation Map of Namibia of 1971 and the Homogenous Framing Areas Report of 1979. The vegetation of Omusati and Oshana regions which are situated in the Mopanne Savanna in central-northern Namibia was classified and described by subjecting 415 relevés to multivariate analysis i.e. classification and ordination. The geographical distribution of these community types was established by supervised classification of satellite data of the study area. Data collected in this study will be used for hypothesis generation of further ecological investigations while the map can be used for planning and conservation of vegetation resources in the area. Copyright
Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Plant Science
unrestricted

La présente thèse est une étude ethnographique qui examine le savoir en tant que pratique située au Ladakh, dans l’Himalaya indien. Elle analyse les implications socioculturelles des deux moteurs de changement en jeu au Ladakh: l’un est d'origine socio-économique et lié à la production du Ladakh en tant que zone frontalière, tandis que l’autre est de nature environnementale et entrainé par les changements climatiques. Alors que le Ladakh est demeuré hors de la portée de l’État bureaucratique pendant l’administration coloniale britannique, la région s’est trouvée reconfigurée en zone frontalière stratégique après l’indépendance de l’Inde des suites des guerres successives avec le Pakistan et la Chine. L’Indépendance a mené à la partition de l’Inde et du Pakistan en 1947; cette thèse examine la portée à long terme des évènements traumatisants de la partition tels qu’ils se sont déroulés au Ladakh et comment les Ladakhis établissent des liens entre ces évènements et les changements climatiques. L’État indien s’est produit dans la région à travers une volonté de dominer les montagnes, principalement par le développement d’infrastructures et par l’intégration du savoir local des Ladakhis dans l’appareil militaire. La militarisation a restructuré l'économie du Ladakh, redéfini la structure des ménages, contribué à l’exode rural, déplacé la centralité des activités agropastorales et, tel que la dissertation le soutient, altéré de manière significative la connexion de la population locale avec l'environnement. La rationalisation croissante de la perspective sur l’environnement aujourd'hui contribue à la fragmentation des liens qui unissent les domaines naturels et humains dans la cosmologie locale de même qu’à l'abandon des pratiques rituelles connexes. Parallèlement, la région est touchée par des effets distincts des changements climatiques, en particulier la récession des glaciers. La thèse juxtapose l'expérience subjective de ces vastes changements dans la vie quotidienne des villageois de la Vallée de Sham avec les faits historiques environnementaux, démontrant ainsi que les événements historiques locaux influent sur les perceptions des changements environnementaux. L'analyse démontre qu’un phénomène objectif tel que la récession des glaciers est interprété à travers des réalités locales. Plus précisément, selon la conception du monde locale, un glacier en retrait est une figure rhétorique d’une transformation de la condition humaine. Comme le fait valoir la dissertation, l’interprétation culturelle ne constitue pas un obstacle à l'objectivité de l'histoire naturelle de la cosmologie locale. L’interprétation culturelle et l'expérience empirique s’avèrent par ailleurs essentielles à la vitalité des connaissances locales sur l'environnement et à la performance des pratiques associées.
The dissertation presents an ethnographic study that examines knowledge as a situated practice in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalayas. It analyzes the sociocultural implications of two drivers of change at play in Ladakh: one is of socioeconomic origin and linked to the production of Ladakh as a border area, while the other is environmental and driven by climate change. Ladakh, which remained outside the scope of the bureaucratic state during the British colonial administration, found itself refashioned into a strategic border area following India’s independence and successive wars with Pakistan and China. Independence led to the partition of Indian into India and Pakistan in 1947; the dissertation examines the long-term, traumatic events of the partition in Ladakh, tracing connections to current perceptions of climate change. The independent Indian state has produced itself in the region through the taming of its mountains, primarily through infrastructure development and the co-optation of Ladakhi knowledge of the environment by the military apparatus. Far-reaching militarization has restructured Ladakh’s economy, consequently redefining household structure, contributing to village depopulation, displacing the centrality of agro-pastoralist activities and, as the dissertation argues, significantly altering the local population’s engagement with the environment. The increasing rationalization of the outlook on the environment today contributes to the fragmentation of links between the natural and human realms within the local cosmology and the abandonment of related ritual practices. Concurrently, the region is impacted by distinct effects of climate change, in particular glacier recession. The dissertation juxtaposes both the subjective experience of wide-ranging environmental changes and changes in everyday village life with historical facts, showing that local historical events influence perceptions of glacier recession and the depletion of natural resources. The analysis demonstrates that objective phenomena such as glacier recession are interpreted through local realities. Specifically, in the local worldview, a vanishing glacier is a trope for changes in the human condition. Yet, as the dissertation further argues, such cultural framing does not preclude the objectivity of natural history in local cosmology. Moreover, cultural framing and empirical experience, therefore, are shown to be essential to the vitality of local knowledge about the environment and to the performance of associated landscape practices.