Range Management in Developing Countries

1. Range Management in Developing Countries Josephine Smith, PaKou Yang, Brad Redelfs

2. What We Will Be Covering • Introduction • Challenges to African Pastoralism & Livestock • Land Tenure & Communal Grazing

3. Introduction • Rangelands represent an important resource in many countries around the world • 30 – 40 Million people in arid and semiarid regions have “animal – based” economies • Pastoralsits • 50% of the people who are in an “animal – based” economy. • Located in Africa • Job opportunities in industry in these areas are seldom available

4. Reference Guides • Developing countries face multifaceted problems in range resource management • Some problems in rangelands can be somewhat unique or more general. • Useful texts pertaining to specific regions: • Africa • Heady (1960), Heady & Heady (1982), Pratt & Gwynne (1977) • Pakistan • Quraishi et al. (1993) • Australia • Harrington et al. (1984)

5. Challenges to African Pastoralism • During the past 30 years, pastoral herders I most parts of Africa have experienced a steady loss of their grazing lands • Causes • Expanding farming operations • Private ranches • Wheat estates • Urbanization • Tourist game parks • Rapid population growth • Drought • Political turmoil

6. Population • Growth of population in Africa averages more than 2.5% per year • Specifically in Kenya & Tanzania • Forces intensive land use • Increase shifts in farming • Less productive grazing lands • Led to violent confrontations among neighboring tribes

7. Drought • Always been a part of Africa’s climate • Increased human & livestock populations on declining land base have intensified the famines & ecological degradation

8. Commoditization • Involves shifting the pastoral economy subsistence to commercial • Subsistence • House hold use only • Commercial • Products for sale • Transformation is causing pastoralists to become more sedentary & to be divided into “haves” & “have nots” • Haves • Those who own private ranches • Have Nots • Those who work for others or migrate to towns in search of work

9. Problems Relating to Livestock • Problems with livestock and adequate rangeland for grazing date back to biblical times. • In some cases, problems relate to livestock distribution, while others are more pervasive

10. Annual Herbage Standing Crop • This shows the wide range of available roughages in the country of Niger. • Because of the fluctuation, herders were faced with needing to find other feed sources for livestock • Hard to provide flexibility of livestock in areas that are over grazed • Leads to destructive grazing (kg/ha)

11. Destructive Grazing • The immediate prospects of reducing this in developing countries is not bright • Heavy stocking & deterioration of basic resource the most serious problem • Destructive cycle initiated some time ago • Human population growth has increased this cycle • Heavy grazing will take a toll on other basic resources • Remedies to problems are complex & not easily resolved

12. Retrogressive Spiral

13. Land Tenure & Communal Grazing

14. Nomadic • Definition • Herders have no permanent base; they take all their provisions with them as they move with their livestock • Abound in developing countries • In arid & semiarid areas can be a mechanism that provides herders with maximum flexibility to feed & water livestock • Patterns are seasonal • Away from permanent water in rainy seasons & back in dry seasons

15. Transhumance • Definition • Herders have permanent base to which they return each year. They move with their livestock during certain portions of the year • Also abound in developing countries • Nomadic & Seminomadic • Well adapted for many rangelands around the world when human populations were relatively low & forage & water plentiful for livestock supporting the human population • Communal grazing is one of the prime factors for destructive grazing according to western range people

16. Sedentary • These people are often farmers who also raise stock on the side. They have a permanent home & graze livestock in the vicinity of their permanent base • Can come to overgrazing their own land • Able to cut back on livestock or increase when they want

17. Problem Relating to Dry-Season Grazing • Decling for age quantity • Declining forage quality

18. The Decline in Quality and Quantity • At the begin of the rainy season, the forage will grow to it limit and even with or without grazing the herbage will decline due to the dry period but it will decline more with herbivores (livestock and large game animals)

19. 6 Suggestions for Improvement for Dry Season in Developing Countries. • Seasonal grazing • Complementary forage • Supplemental feed • Stored feed • Forage reserves • Centripetal grazing

20. 1. Seasonal Grazing • Traditional nomadic or transhumance grazing was largely a response to seasonal variation in available forage supplies and enables herders that flexibility necessary to maintain their herds.

22. 2. Complementary Forage • In many cases, both in developing and developed countries, crop residue is utilized in a grazing program to supplement native range. • Crop residue many add energy to the diet and in some cases protein. • Improved pastures • in the Niger River delta • in Mali and use as part of their grazing program

23. 3. Supplemental Feed • In the United States, supplementing livestock on native range during periods of nutritional stress is a common practice. • However, supplements are not so readily available inmost developing countries. • As supplements are more readily considered, their availability in developing countries may increase. • Protein supplements • peanut meal and cottonseed meal are now available in some African countries.

24. 4. Store Feed • The type of stored feed depends upon availability. • Examples include peanut straw, silage, and hay. • There may be many opportunities for herders to harvest grass hay by hand, but provisions for storage and subsequent feeding may be a problem.

25. 5. Forage Reserves • Introduced or native plants can be protected form grazing until late in the dry season. • Ideally, they should be plants that retain their nutritive value well into the dry season. • The international livestock center for Africa has been conducting such trials in Nigeria. The forage reserves might be used for livestock at greatest risk. • Acceptable and nutritious shrubs have potential for this type of operation. • Direct seeding or transplanting of shrubs in small enclosures near water may provide forage reserves as well as expand the valuable but often depleted browse supplies.

27. 6. Centripetal Grazing • The normal pattern of grazing around permanent water is... • During extended dry-season grazing. • As the forage is depleted at greater and greater centripetal grazing, the process is reversed. • Animals are trailed to areas at greatest distances early in the dry season and graze progressively closer to water late in the dry season. • For the system to work, control of animals would be mandatory. • Procedures prevent trampling of herbage close to water • balance livestock with available herbage to prevent destructive grazing patterns.

28. Drought • Drought occurred in Africa in the late 1960 and early 1970 have brought attention to the world. • Many books are written about starvation and need for aids but not about drought. • Many are confuse with drought as aridity • Because both deal with the lack of rainfall • Drought is evaluated in relation to average conditions that reduce vegetational growth.

29. Drought • When drought occur we cannot do anything but with the help of satellite can improve the planning to prevent future drought. • Two approaches to prevent drought • Reduce livestock numbers • Provide supplementary feed

30. Reducing Livestock • Reducing livestock is not popular or economically feasible in most cases. • Recommend to use if for grazing and crop agriculture depend on climate patterns. • Management of any supplemental feed or forage for complex drought condition • Cannot very manage drought because it come in a unknowns length

32. Development of Livestock Water • These developments often were dirt tanks for the temporary storage of water following rains or boreholes which tapped groundwater sources. • Water point development without grazing management often resulted in exploitation of new areas and further range deterioration. • Heavy grazing results in a depletion of the area around the well. • Livestock water development has not been a qualified success even there are many well • People doesn’t know how to maintenance the project • For future note on developing counties-need to be improve.

33. Range Burning • Controlled burning can be used as a tool for various land management objectives. • However burning can destroy valuable forage and subject to severe erosion. • Burning is done for many reason but not in this case. The forage can be use for livestock grazing and which will help support the human population.