It could not have been stated better. Dr Western knows what he is talking about, and talks from experience grounded in the communities. The experience of the land associations (and now the Kenya Rangeland Coalition) need to be linked to policy level action and integrated into programming of government and other actors involved in seeking solutions to the challenges association with pastoralism.

The classic bio-feedback by Jules Charney was misused by many to blame pastoralists for the desertification in the Sahel region. Almost 40 years later came the study by Giannini et al. (Science) to show that in fact the rainfall variability at interannual and decadal scales was fully explained by the sea surface temperature forcing including the warming of the tropical Indian and Atlantic Oceans. And the latter have been attributed to the increases in Greenhouse gases which are in fact caused by the developed World. So why do we continue this ill-informed attribution to pastoralists? Does Dr. Western have any scientific basis to this claim?

Regards,
Raghu Murtugudde

Raghu Murtugadde,

As well, I am also usually alert, but on this one Dr. Western has attested to facts informed by both science, and the knowledge of the indigenous pastoralist communities of the rangelands of Amboseli area, in Kajiado district in the Southern parts of Kenya.

Dr. Western is informed by the more than four decades of research as an ecologist among the traditional Maasai people of Amboseli. His experience as a scientist collecting data and living among the non sedentary Maasai pastoralist makes him a competent witness of the different times and circumstances these communities have gone through.

In the 60s when he found these people they were relatively self sufficient, by sustainable living. He saw and experienced first hand the systematic alienation of the lands of these peoples. The consequence was curtailing of livestock movements, and the shrinkage of quality grazing lands, and the carrying capacity of the land was reduced. In other words Dr. Western is testifying that pastoralists, who are dwellers of the rangelands, had developed ways and means that ensured their economies thrived, and they survived in their arid and semi-arid terrains, until external intermeddling and colonization in the administration of their lands and water resources abased their orderly holistic life. A lifestyle that was holistically at peace with the environment they lived in.

The blame was not placed on the communities but rather on misguided government policies, or policies motivated by mischief by people in government.

The article is intended to galvanize these communities. To rally in a common platform to attempt to seize the opportunity afforded by the new constitutional dispensation.

This very important article should reach every stakeholder in range management, especially those who are involved in animal husbandry in arid and sub-arid zones of Africa, of the entire wold, including heads of states, governors, heads of regional, global institutions, religions commanders, research institutions etc. Media like radio and television must frequently program debates on it. Liman, Chef of Service of Animal Production at CEBEVIRHA, mliman@cebevirha.org or mohamaliman@yahoo.fr

This is nothing new as far as animal hearders are concerned. For centuries, they have learnt how to tame their environment for sustainable animal keeping. The only problem they had is how to document this information. The so called scientists have to learn to include the names of the local pastoralists, in their writtings, as fellow contributors. As Scientists we have to learn to respect them.
Dr C S Kivuyo

Nice overview, highlighting several important issues common to many recently- bordered societies. Dr Allan Savory of the African Centre for Holistic Management says the key is not the overstocking but that grazers overstay in one place not giving grasses time to recover fully. In fact he uses dense herds to for short periods to restore damaged pastures so the solution to the mayhem may be nearer than it seems. Holistic Planned Grazing mimics natural grazing situations. http://www.savoryinstitute.com 

I concur with Dr. Western on the point that environmental problems faced by pastoral lands are systemic. Pastoralism today, as Dr.Western rightly puts is a way of life which is under siege from various factors. Combinations of weak governance; inadequate land and resource management policies; political and economic marginalization; and increasing insecurity have all had their toll. Environmental degradation in pastoral lands whatever its cause(s) however, is the current and future threat to pastoralism as a livelihood option. Both have led to food shortages and increased pressure on available land and water resources. For record, there have been more than 10 major drought periods in East Africa in the last three decades and every drought is reported to have led to huge loss of lives and decline in livestock population, sometimes by up to 70%.

Environmental degradation may in some cases be sufficiently extreme to undermine the habitability of a given area and to compel affected populations to leave in search of new homes. Growing water scarcity, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, and other environmental calamities are now contributing to the uprooting of large numbers of people— in effect creating flows of “environmental refugees.” Climate change alone, may cause as many as 150 million environmental refugees by 2050, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The number of displaced populations in pastoral lands is increasing every day and these pastoral drop outs may find it difficult to find new livelihoods in other rural areas and may even clash with unwelcoming host communities. This is especially so in Northern Kenya where the host community’s economy is stagnant, and the government is indifferent to the needs of the pastoral people.
I therefore submit that, environmental security should be at the top of Agenda when addressing long term drought mitigation in Northern Kenya.

This is not ‘for’or ‘against’ but a reality check-the question is: if climate variability is intricately part of the pastoral system then what is it that has changed that make pastoralists more vulnerable than they were so many years back? It takes us back to local resource management institutions; traditional grazing management strategies; and other coping mechanisms that conferred resilience to the system-they are all gone thanks to ‘modernization’. Despite the dynamic and resilient nature of pastoralism, this may only continue for a while, implying that something right has to be done-but what is this that has to be done, there is no silver bullet for these problems-approaches must be contextualised to different scenarios and if the problems are systematic, as I do believe, then they have to be dealt with systematically as opposed to oppressing the symptoms. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in this and appropriate (socially, economically and ecologically desirable-that address the root cause of the current problems) policies that reflect the desires of the land users have to be not only sort but implemented to the letter-in absence that, it will be business as usual with our rhetorics.