The First Call for Papers for the 2016 International Rangeland Congress in Saskatoon, SK Canada is now open. Continue reading
Animal Feeding / Event / Forages / Livestock / Research
Tag Archives: Rangelands
Article / Drylands / Environment / Pastoralism / Resilience / Vulnerability / Wildlife
Pastoral paradox: Communally used, commonly abused, rangelands remain demonstrations in resilience
An interesting and comprehensive paper, Dynamics and resilience of rangelands and pastoral peoples around the globe, was recently published in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 39: 217-242 (Oct 2014), DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-020713-163329. The lead author of the paper is Robin Reid, an ecologist and rangelands expert formerly with ILRI, in Nairobi, Kenya, and now director of the Center for Collaborative Conservation at Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Continue reading
Drought / East Africa / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability
‘Better grazing holds key to coping better with Kenyan droughts’–David Western
Korr, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Hello Hillary). In the face of the great drought engulfing the Horn of Africa, David Western, a savanna ecosystems expert who is chairman of the African Conservation Centre and a former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, in Nairobi, Kenya, makes a persuasive case for better management … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Feeding / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Livestock / NRM / Research / WLE
Rangeland condition and feed resources in Metema district, North Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
This working paper by Tesfaye Desalew, Azage Tegegne, Lisanework Nigatu and Worku Teka on Rangeland condition and feed resources in Metema district, North Gondar Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia was released on 10 January, 2011. It focuses on a study conducted in 2006/07 in Metema district, North Gondar Zone of Amhara region, Ethiopia, with the objectives … Continue reading
Animal Production / Central America / Farming Systems / Innovation Systems / Knowledge and Information / Latin America / Livestock Systems
Exceeding expectations: The ‘degraded pastures’ project in Central America
In the past 40 years the area under pastures in Latin America increased from 473 to 555 million hectares, and the number of cattle has risen from 195 to 394 million. This growth has resulted in forest loss and fragmentation. Pastures are now the main agricultural land use, particularly in areas like El Petén, in … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Geodata / GIS / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / South Africa / Southern Africa / Wildlife
South Africa: Satellite can help improve veld production estimates
Satellite images could soon be used in South Africa to quantify veld production, estimate livestock carrying capacity and help farmers plan fodder flow, reports Roelof Bezuidenhout. Read more … (Meat Trade News) Continue reading
How to save the grasslands: Bring in more cattle
To many, the Western grasslands still reflect the essence of this country: the vast plains that begin with prairie and bump up against the Rockies, home to herds of cattle and the cowboys that run them. Yet this indelible image belies the facts, as much of the nation’s rangeland has been degraded by overgrazing. Land … Continue reading
Feeding the world without levelling the forest
Romosinuano cattle grazing in South America (picture credit: ILRI/Edwin Perez) A July 2010 article in the leading science journal Nature highlights the gains Brazil is making in its agricultural productivity. ‘With its plentiful sun, water and land, Brazil is quickly surpassing other countries in food production and exports. But can it continue to make agricultural … Continue reading
Monitoring rangeland health: A guide for pastoralist communities in Eastern Africa
Funded by USAID-East Africa, this guide is written for people who want to design and implement a simple rangeland monitoring programme in eastern Africa. The guide outlines a series of steps that will enable community members and other land managers to decide what, where, when, and how to monitor, as well as how to interpret … Continue reading
Rangeland management must listen to locals
South Africa must build bottom-up needs-based policies for communal livestock grazing. ‘Nothing about us without us!’ It’s a popular slogan in development work and one that agricultural policymakers should embrace to ensure their decisions address rural communities’ needs. Recent experience with communal cattle keeping in South Africa is again providing valuable lessons on why and … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 