Journal
APPLIED GEOGRAPHY
Volume 86, Issue -, Pages 208-219Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2017.07.003
Keywords
Mobility; Pastoralism; Spatial utilization pattern; GPS-tracking; Ethiopia
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Funding
- Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University
- Australian Aid
- Toward Sustainability Foundation
- United States Agency for International Development
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Extensive movement is a key strategy for pastoralists to ensure adequate forage intake for livestock while distributing grazing pressure throughout the landscape. However, the complexity of pastoral mobility was overgeneralized in previous research, which often leads to sedentarization-oriented policy-making. Based on continuous GPS-tracking of cattle movement over seven months and pastoralist knowledge of mobility, we investigated spatial rangeland utilization patterns in five study sites across the Borana Zone of southern Ethiopia. By quantifying the extent of movement, density of utilization, and recursive use of rangelands, we found highly diverse mobility patterns and resource-use strategies even within a single study region. Rather than the central-place model, pastoral mobility patterns in Borana can be characterized using restrictive, semi-extensive, or extensive herding models. The research findings suggest that sedentarization largely results in compromised mobility. Thus, we recommend both intra- and inter-community coordination to reduce recursive use of rangelands and mitigate degradation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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