Many policy makers in East Africa have preconceptions about the value of pastoralism as a land-use system believing it to be economically inefficient and environmentally destructive. Yet, this is not evidence-based. Not only is there no consensus on what is a dynamic economic model of pastoralism, no mechanisms exist to inform government decision-making of its comparative advantages over alternative land uses. This paper argues that pastoralism does make a significant contribution to society and that, with better understanding, planning and data collection, its value can be demonstrated. The paper presents a preliminary framework for assessing the benefits of pastoralism that goes beyond conventional criteria relating to livestock and their by-products. While the paper focuses on East Africa, much of the analysis is applicable to pastoral systems in other regions of Africa.

Importance of agro-pastoral systems in Brazil; Grassland management technology for sustainable agro-pastoral systems in the subtropical zone of Brazil; Results of soybean yield, animal liveweight gain and soil fertility changes in agro-pastoral systems; Nitrogen dynamics in agro-pastoral system of Brazil; Characterization of nitrogen utilization by tropical grasses in brazilian savannas; Soil organic residues accumulation in agro-pastoral systems in the cerrados of Brazil; Effects of termite activities on nutrient recycling in agro-pastoral system; Inhibition of nitrification in Brachiaria humidicola; Diagnosis of pasture degradation by multi-temporal satellite imagery; Problems and prespectives of regional land conservation systems in relation to the pantanal wetlands; Tropical forage breeding in Embrapa: current situation and prospects; Economic evaluation of the agro-pastoral system; Agro-pastoral systems in subtropical Brazil and possibility of extension.

Pastoralists make the most of resources distributed unevenly over space and time to provide a range of goods and services. Operating in a shock-prone environment, pastoralists deploy endogenous strategies such as mobility, diversification in agriculture or in non-agricultural activities, management of social networks, etc. However, accurate and reliable knowledge about the economics of pastoralism is yet to be understood and absorbed at the local, regional and national levels, based on reliable data. In the absence of such knowledge, governments and private firms neglect investment that would allow those systems to better connect to markets, and are unable to provide appropriate services, infrastructure and tenure security. With Argentina, Chad and Mongolia as pilot cases, this study by CIRAD, commissioned by FAO, funded by IFAD and facilitated by pastoralist associations (Fundación Gran Chaco, Réseau Billital Maroobé, and the National Federation of Pasture User Groups), aimed to fulfil this knowledge gap through a multifunctional assessment of pastoral production systems and their economic contribution. Importantly, incorporating self-consumption of pastoralist households’ productions themselves as an key component of gross revenue shows a significant increase in their contribution to national GDPs. The diversified sources of revenue and the importance of self-consumption also indicate that pastoral systems fulfil a range of functions (income, food security, flexible labor, etc.). Further, the study promotes close cooperation between pastoralist associations, research institutions and development partners. Such new partnerships allow strengthening the capacity of those pastoralist associations in collecting and managing their own data, as well as using this data in policy dialogue.

Pastoralism as a land use system is under recognized in terms of its contribution to food provision, livelihoods as well as to human security. This book is the first attempt to explore the dynamics of economic spaces of pastoral production and commodity systems for explicit South and North positionings. It develops and applies a new approach in combining agri-food, market and commodity chain perspectives with livelihood approaches. This enables new understandings of re-aligning exchange relations between the global south and the global north. The case studies presented open up new empirical insights in largely under-researched areas, such as Afghanistan, Chad, Tibet and Siberia and very recent changes in industrialized economies with major pastoral sectors. The book reveals new evidence and theoretical insights about significant changes in established producer-consumer relations in agriculture and food.

Historial perspective of agro-pastral system research in the savannas of South America. Research acitivities on agro-pastoral system research in the savannas of South America. Research activities on agro-pastoral systems in CPAC. Research activities and main results of agro-pastroral experiments at CNPGC. Crop residues in agro-pastoral systems. On-farm rial of agro-pastoral systems. Economic evaluation of agro-pastoral systems at CNPGC. Pasture management in agro-pastoral systems. Nitrogen cycling in agro-pastoral systems. Economic evaluation of agro-pastoral systems.