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RANGELANDS 14(4), August 1992 201

Sustainable Rangelands in the Near and North Ahmed E. Sidahmed

Many dry/and areas of the world are not suitable for 1986and barleyproduction increased 12times from 1979 cultivation and should be used for sustained to 1987,the country must still dependon feed importsto production (Figure1). Suchareas are usuallywithin arid maintain livestockproduction (Kingdomof (1-74 growing days) and semi-arid (75—119 growing 1987). This scenario is common in , United Arab days) zones (FAQ 1987a). One third of the world's total Emirates, and . land areais arid or semi-aridand half is locatedin devel- In oil-rich countries herding is conducted by hired oping countries. Even with irregular rain, harsh environ- labour. When livestock owners becomeabsentee stock ment and fragile ecology, drylands have sustained owners, they are less involved in animal production and human populationsfor thousandsof years. their traditional grazing concerns are replaced with oppor- Drylands are characteristicallyover-populated by both tunistic practices, such as trucking stock to greener human and animals (FAO/UNFPA/I IASA 1982).Advances areas. in health, nutrition, sanitaryconditions, and an unprece- Recent FAQ projections suggest that grazing man- dentedinflux of imports,, and have resulted in a agement in developing countriesis movingtoward inten- dramatic increase in human and animal populations. siveproduction and away from free grazing (FAQ 1 987b). Accordingto recentestimates (FAQ 1987a), drylands are This is occurring because thereare no remaining grazing inhabitedby about300 million people, and half ofthe area land reserves in the Near East and . The is affected by desertification. expansion in land use was insignificant in Qman, Saudi Financial investments to develop African rangelands Arabia and Libya between 1965 and 1985 but population (McDowell1984) have failed because range technicians increased 2.0, 2.5 and 2.5 times, respectively. were unable to transferknowledge to user groups, (ILCA The maximum projected increase in cultivatedarea in 1987; World Bank 1989) mainly because of a misunder- Saudi Arabia could reach 20%by 1995. This increase will standing of the interaction between the technical and be at the expense of the remainingvegetatively covered soclo-economic constraintsto pastoralsystems. areas. The environmental consequences of the evolution from extensive to intensive practicesdeserve seriousand ChangesIn the Range/LivestockSystems immediateattention. In arid ofthe Near Eastand NorthAfrica, range- Constraints and Conventional RemedialApproaches lands livestock production by the migratory pastorals Interventions to improveand sustain rangelands live- (nomads) is a mixed crop-animalproduction system. In stock production systems in arid and semi-aridenviron- traditional pastoral systems, vegetation supplies live- ments are many, for example: -proper stocking rates; stock energyrequirements, andfailed crop residues sup- -plantingadapted plant materials; -germplasm collection, plement free grazing. This system has almost disap- evaluation, preservation and seed production; -resting peared in the past 10 years. The animal-vegetation over-grazed rangelands; -growing fodder shrubsfor dry interaction has been interruptedby increases in dryland season feed; -water development and harvesting; -alley cultivation, advances in mechanized transport,and water farming: cultivation of food crops between rows of fast development, resulting in the disappearance of natural growing leguminous trees; -processing, conservation forages. Range forages now provide only about 20% of and treatment ofnational feed resources and crop residues; the feed needed by livestock in Saudi Arabia. The re- -supplemental feeding; -flock/herd structure based upon mainder is supplied by subsidized barley imports. Even the realities of the local environment, the need of the with wheat production increased 96 times from 1969 to livestockowners and complementary land use; -grazing failed food crops; -livestock upgrading through better Condensedversion ofplenary paperpresented at theSecond International Conferenceon Range Managementin the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait3-6 March herd management and genetic improvement; -under- 1990. standing and alleviating the administrative and the politi- The author is Technical Advisor (Livestockand Rangelands Management). TechnicalAdvisory Division. International Fund for Agricultural Development cal constraints; -understandingthe socio-economiccir- Rome ofthe (IFAD), viadel Serafico.107; Room IFAD2/4 Italy. cumstances ofthe pastoral communities; -trainingnational cadres; of livestock. Acknowledgement: -marketing Useful suggestionsand commentswere made by several colleaguesin FAO: Problems in projectconceptualization and formulation Fromthe Grassland and PastureGroup, the Animal ProductionService, Agri- culture Research, FarmingSystems and ProductionEconomics Service, the are generally due to limitations of time, money, people Economicand Social Policy Department, and the Agriculture Department. and relevant technology. Projects that are implemented Followingpresentation in Kuwaitthe draft wasreviewed byDr. Jerry Cox,who providedvaluable proposalsand editorial suggestions. with high energy inputs disrupt the traditional practices The viewsexpressed in this paper are those of the author and in no way should be taken to reflect those of FAO. that evolved with nomads. Followingten years ofresearch 202 RANGELANDS14(4), August 1992

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a EXTREMELYARID ARID

SEMI-ARID

FIg. 1. Worki distribution ofdeserts anddrylands. the InternationalLivestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) could 1. The significanceof the presentscientific and tech- not identify any technological interventionsthat could nical "knowledge" is not a debatablequestion. This type achieve significant advantage over the traditional sys- of "institutional" knowledge(Hall and Dixon 1988) is not tems (ILCA 1987). Even whenprojects were judged "suc- always taken for granted by the pastoral communities cessful" the results were not of direct or sustainable who have their own "local" knowledgeacquired through benefit to the pastoral communities. Animal production generations and transferred orally between familiesand projectssupported by donor agencies (e.g., World Bank) communities. Modalitieswhich break the languagebar- or governments failed to achieve proper rangeIands and rier and which involve the pastoral communities in the forage production goals, because they were dependent process of incorporating institutional knowledge into upon subsidized feed supplements. local traditions should be developed. The Need for a 2. The conceptof approaching the pastoralcommuni- ComprehensiveStrategy the of has be (Lessons from successesand failures) ties as object development proved to a failure. Most and national institutions in projects training Rangelands the low potentialareas are vulnerableto rarely devote sufficient time to interact and exchange increasinghuman and livestockpopulations. Therefore,a knowledge withthe pastoral communities. This is reflected careful balance between conservation of the re- fragile inthe passive non-participatoryconnotations (e.g., target sources and meeting the growing consumer needs is groups) used to describethe local populations(Hall and essential if sustainedagricultural productionis desirable. Dixon 1988). Furthermore, national professionals and The following are some experiences from dryland administrators have little sympathy for local traditions, rangelands management. aggravating the problem in rural communities. RANGELANDS14(4), August 1992 203

3. Range livestockdevelopment projectsusually cause and migratory movements have been discontinued or more problemsthan they solve (Roe 1989). Members of mechanized (e.g., trucking livestockto remote pastures). these projects do not have direct contacts with rural The social and cultural traditionsof marriage, generosity communitiesand are stationed miles away from govern- and social gatherings are still maintained and in most ment authoritieswho could mobilizetheir subordinates if situations, exaggerated by the increased wealth (e.g., a request was made. Gulf States). Family consumptionof resources has con- The motive for building several local institutions and sequently increased, imposingnet losses on small family Organizations—e.g., the government-supported fenced operations. grazingareas in Libya (Sidahmed et al. 1986)—has been 6. Nomadic communitiespractice a selective process to impose new systems of range management. In this of incorporating new technologies into their traditional case the new grazing system was not adapted to the systems. Proposals which are justifiable from the techni- environment and this is probably because it was deve- cal point (e.g., de-stocking, diversification of livestock loped for a different society. The duration of most such species) may not be socio-ecoriomically acceptable. projects has been short and the commitment to project Some pastoral communitiesconsider rearing camels or implementation by expatriates and nationalteams made- of higher prestigethan raisingsheep or goats. The quate. change in livestock class has been imposed by new Examples: governmental policies. The rapid increase in non- a) In Libya, efforts to establish Acacia cyanophylla conventional production inputs such as transport failed. In this instance knowledgewas not a constraint machineryand feed supplement has transformedtradi- because it was known that new growthwas stimulated by tionally subsistence systems into commercial operations. cutting. Expatriates emphasized the importanceof cut- Pastoralists placegreat cultural value on tribal communal ting this fodder shrub at 3-year intervals, but could not societies, while the commercial operatorsdevelop mar- identify a practical management approach. The working ket-orientedsystems in order to satisfy outside consu- force in one 11,815-ha area was a limited number of mers (e.g., urban dwellers). The increasing demand for untrainedgovernment technicians and alien herders. The cash is affecting the family herd/flock composition and local livestockowners were not allowedto utilizethe area size. Abundance of water pointsand availabilityof trucks and were never consulted. Most of the trees died Un- to carry small stock to remote rangelands favoured the utilized before their expected life-span. shift from camelsto sheep in SaudiArabia, and b) Several development projects in the were Libya.The increased relianceon subsidized supplemen- plaguedby problems(Thimm 1979). One projectattemp- tal feed resulted in a sharp increase in the population of ted to fence 20,000 ha and run it cooperativelywith 50 small stock between 1965 and 1988 in Kuwait, Oman and families of settlers. All biophysical and infrastructual Saudi Arabia. The concentrationof sheep and goats in inputs, including mobile clinics, were provided.The car- the early spring growing season is degradingvast areas. rying capacity of the fenced area was far below the 7. Individualizationor the establishment of individual numberof animals owned by the settledfamilies. Rather rights to specific grazing territories as opposedto com- munal than reducing herd numbers, the nomads kept a portion territories is becoming an important issue facing of their animals outsidethe fences and a portion inside. governments involved in setting land tenure policies. This solution was a continuation of nomadism. Herd size per family, social structure and seasonality of Both examples are failed attempts in spite of large resource production, make implementation of the indi- financial investments. While the herder communitywas vidualization concept in the dryland areas impractical totally excludedin the Libyan experience, the Sudanese and impossible. Also privatizationmight encourage dry- project treated the herders as objects whose culture land farming in locations not suitable for cropping. could bereadily changed. This was an invalid assumption. 8. Government-imposed policiesand actions resulting in the 4. In someinstances range livestock development pro- abolition of the traditional administrationsystem gramswere focused only on animal, plant, water and soil (e.g., Sudan) without providing effective alternatives, factors.Traditional resource management practices were aggravate conflicts between tribes and distort the tradi- ignored and condemned as irrational and destructive. tional laws (un) governing communal grazing, thus The rapid increase in the humanpopulation in dryland inflicting drastic deterioration on the rangelands. The areas has led to herd fragmentationamong heirs. The mutuallybeneficial relations between the farmers and the present pastoral familiesown smallerindividual herds or pastoralists have deteriorated and trespassing hascaused flocks and cannot afford to destock, which could mate- personal conflicts harming both arableand grazing lands. Most rially affect the family'ssubsistance. Any future planning 9. of the rangelands development projects in- to protect the rangelands environment should face the vested, to some extent, in training, in-countryor abroad. realitythat traditional pastoral are Several countries provide range livestock management systems disappearing. In The challenge of the present and the future is how to curricula. general, most efforts are less than desirable maintain a sustainable alternativeproduction system. or ineffective because they are not supported with an institutional infrastructure. 5. Pastoralists practiceseveral social activitiesdeeply Highly trained professionals rootedin their traditional life-style; some, suchas herding from low income countries migrate for socio-political 204 RANGELANDS 14(4), August 1992 reasons. On the other hand, training in some high income gathering and evaluating information in the following drylandcountries was ineffective because nationalcoun- areas: terpartstend to rely upon expatriatesin performingmost — Trends invegetation composition asaffected by grazing. of the technologytransfer and management activites. — Trends in the pastoral economy asaffected by moderni- Recommendations zation. — Trendsin size, communal 1. To a of family ownership, consump- adopt comprehensive approach Planning, tion needs and habits, family labour, etc. Implementation,Evaluation and Monitoring of Range- — Absentee of stock; herders; alien lands Livestock ownership poor Development Projects shepherds. Dramatic have afflicted communities changes pastoral 3. To Involve Pastorals in LocalLeadership andAdmin- of the overpopulatedrangelands (no return to the past). istration The extent of deteriorationand the noticeablefailure of Toencourage the involvement ofthe pastoral commun- several created a aware- development projects growing ities and the local leadership in the local administrative ness about the fragility of these resources. The need fora structuresand in rangelands protectionand management systems approachthat generates a betterunderstanding activities. of the complexity of rangeiands production systems 4. To Integrate the Pastoral Sector in the National became essential. However, in most cases implementa- and tion was limited to restrictedareas. the Economy Policy Also, approaches The central governments could a decisiverole in themselves were not play comprehensive (i.e., incomplete this regard by encouraging pastoral production systems teams; restriction to only few phases of the or process), to achieve stable economicreturns without exaggerated did not stressthe involvement of the pastoral communi- feed in theform of or were subsidies, (e.g., supplements grain or ties, lackingacceptance or recognitionby institu- The and mutual benefits from the mixed and hay). positive tions, governments planners. crop-livestocksystems should be For As awareness forsustained encouraged. example, global productionevolved, the animals could utilize the crop residues while comprehensive which the im- provid- approaches emphasized ing organic nutrientsto the soil. portance of the "whole" rangelands ecosystem were developed (Winrock International 1984). To implement 5. To Establish Legislation Regulating Land Tenure these appraoches the following should be and Communal Grazing consideredseriously: There are several examples where years of work to (i) It must be understood that a "multidisciplinary improverangelands weredestroyed in oneseason dueto team" means athoroughly organizedteam of local com- trespassing and unauthorized grazing.Regulations alone munities, socio-economists, policy makers, administra- are not sufficient. Parallel efforts of communityinvolve- tors and biophysicaltechnologists. ment, incentives and rewards as well as effectiveexten- (ii) Flexibilitymust be exerted whenallocating "funds" sion of knowledge should be provided. and setting "time-frames"for the early phases of devel- 6. To Upgradethe Local Institutions opment, project conceptualization and formulation. To strengthen the technical and administrative pres- (iii) Any systems approach (e.g., Farming Systems ence and facilities in the rangelands areas. As most Development) shouldassist in identifyingconstraints and national governmentofficials prefer living in urban areas, priority problemsof the stock owners; and should con- incentives, living conditionsand careerprospects should sider protection of the environment during all develop- be providedto encourage living in the rural areas. ment processes. 7. To Restore and RehabilitateDegraded Rangelands A highly sophisticatedlevel of organizationand com- Through: mitment based on the "appropriate"knowledge must be a) Reduction of the stocking rate: This could be adoptedto assure sustainable rangelands resource pro- achieved through destocking, a difficult and unpopular duction for present and future generations. Here I quote alternative which could be implemented through sound Emery Roe (1989): management practices, feed security, improved offtake Thusthe good newsfor project designersis that livestockrange- and marketing and reduced imports of subsidized feed lands projects arestill needed in Africa. Thebad newsis that the grain (i.e., barley in Saudi Arabia and Libya). real needis for a new type of project that most livestock range- b) Reduction of human population pressure: by re- lands specialists have not beentrained to undertake. distribution of in to 2. To for surplus (preferably family groups) Develop Long-Term Monitoring Systems less populatedand less vulnerableareas; or fam- Rangelands Ecosystems through The ily planning. rangelands ecosystems are diverse, extensive and 8. To Production vulnerable. As the of Improve and Utilizationof Feed from process improvement intensifies to Local Resources meet the demands of a population, the growing range- This approach should help alleviate the on lands ecosystem changes. The National Agricultural pressure rangelands and at the same time assures sustainability. Research Centres (NARC5) as well as Ministriesof Agri- culture must establish for Examples: long-term monitoringsystems —Processing, conservationand treatment of natural RANGELANDS 14(4), August 1992 205 feed resources. Encouragingfodder harvesting(for hay —Training cannot be effective unless attached to the or silage) and chemical treatment of ungrazed mature local environment. Students atall levelsshould be required annual plants. to participatein pastoral surveys and field data collection. —Creating nationalfeedbanks for storage and distribu- Training abroad is equally useful but should be provided tion of surplus feeds (grains, straw). However, this ap- to individualswho have already developed good know- proach is not practical unless carefully planned and exe- ledge ofthe local rangelands conditions.Joint abroad/in- cuted by the livestock owners. country training programmes should be encouragedin —Developing an early warning system and a mecha- orderto providethe nationalcounterparts with theoppor- nism to forecastgrazing and livestockconditions. tunity to interact and exchange experience with other —Establishing improved local livestock marketing pol- institutions. icies and organizations. Conclusion 9. To the of Livestock Production: Improve Efficiency interventions This could be achieved nutritional, health, Effectivetechnological towardssustain- by reducing able of in the management, breeding and socio-economic constraints. development rangelands/livestock systems Near Eastand North Africa are insufficient.Sus- A location (or site specific) constraintanalysis is a useful regions tainable requires a comprehensive tool to identify the priority problems in each pastoral development partici- patory approach, involving pastoral communities, productionsystem. makers, administratorsand bio- 10. To Strengthen National Institutions for Research, soclo-economists, policy Extension and physical technologistsin all phases of planning, imple- Training mentation and evaluation of activities. and The National Agricultural Research (NARCs) in the Regional countries are under- national institutions are encouraged to strengthen their developing relatively underfunded, with staffed and somewhat bureaucratic. some ties the internationaldevelopment agencies, and to They display devote more attention towards bias towardsdisciplinary basic research, whereas current multi, inter-disciplinary and research, linked with problems need to be addressed by multi- and inter- applied adaptive strongly extension and human resource development. disciplinaryapplied and adaptive research. Also livestock research receives less attention compared to crop re- Literature Cited search. Accordingly,the numberof the nationalscientists Potential and the interventionsare very few, particu- FAO/UNFPA/IIASA.1982. PopulationSupportive Capaci- technological ties of Lands in the DevelopingWorld, p. 139. larly in the rangelands livestocksector (1LCA 1987).The FAO.1987a. Committeeon Agriculture (Ninth session). Improving challengeto loosen the constraintson sustainable pro- Productivity of Dryland Areas. FAO, Rome. duction in these areas falls tothe International FAO.1987b. Agriculture:Toward 200,24th Conference 7-26 Novem- Agricultu- ber 263. ral Research Centres the CG 1987, Rome, Italy p. of IAR, particularlyICARDA, Hell, M., and J. DIxon. 1988. Transfer and Application of Today's ILCA, and ISNAR. The NARCs in the NearEast and North Knowledge of Dryland Farming. FAO/AGS, Presented at the Africa regions should thereforestrengthen their tieswith International Conference on Dryland Farming, Amarillo, Texas, these centres and other related institutions. USA. August 1988. ILCA Livestock Centre for 1987. ILCA's Stra- National (International Africa), research programmes should be developed tegy and Long-term Plan. Addis Ababa, . p. 99. based on thorough knowledgeof the local experiences Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 1987. Achievementsof the Development andshould involvethe communitymembers in designing Plans 1390-1406 "1970-1986". Facts and Figures. Ministry of and trials. Periodic revisions of Planning,Riyadh. p. 302. implementingthe field McDowell, R. 1984. Livestock Nutrition in SubsaharanAfrica: An these programmes must be undertaken by multi-dis- Overview. In: J. Simpson and P. Evangelou (eds.) Livestock ciplinary "teams" in order to assesswhether sustainabil- Developmentin SubsaharanAfrica: Constraints Prospects, Pol- can be met. icy. Westview Press, Boulder, Cob. ity requirements EM. Six about livestock between Roe, 1989. myths rangelandsdevelopment —Extension is the most important link the south of the . Rangelands. ii (5):21 7—221. researchers and the farmers, and is often overlooked Sldahmed,A.E., A.H. Dughals,G. Peeters, M. iskllaih, G. Abu Libda, when to communities. S.Abu Hidelma,T. Al. Husumi andA.K. Omar. 1986. Protocols and transferring"knowledge" pastoral a As mentioned there is a barrier what Proceduresfor the Establishmentof Programmefor Introducing, earlier, language for Testing,Evaluating and Long-term Monitoringof Range Improve- is essentiallya two-wayknowledge transfer mechanism. ment and LivestockManagement Technologies. FAO Range and Extension could bestrengthened by involvinghighly mot- LivestockDevelopment Project(UTFN/LI B/Oil/LI B),Tripoli, Libya. ivated pastoral community oriented "agents". These p. 64. should act both Thlmm, H.U. 1979. DevelopmentProjects in the Sudan:An Analysis "agents" ways reflecting knowledge, of Their Reports with Implications for Research and Training in experience and problems of the pastoral communities as Arid Land Management. The United Nations University,Tokyo. p. well as transferring new innovations to the pastoral 59. Winrock international. 1984. Arid and Semi-arid Lands: Sustainable systems. Use and management in Developing Countries, Morrilton AR 72110. p.205. World Bank. 1989. World Bank Drylands ManagementStudy-Draft (byJ.E. Seve,B.A. Ross-Sheriff,P.C. Impara, and D. deTreville). E/D1, 1400I Street, Suite 700, Washington DC 20005.