Cattle and pastoralism: survival and production in arid lands
Traditional subsistence pastoralists in East Africa tend to keep large herds, milk cattle in preference to eating them, and subject them to long foraging treks. Such practices are widely considered ill-suited to arid lands and are believed to arise because cattle are raised more for social prestige than food production. Whether this is true can only be judged by considering the responses of cattle to arid zones and, given the herder's goals and options, his management practices. In considering these factors, we show that indigenous East African cattle demonstrate energy-sparing capabilities during drought. Pastoralists can therefore herd cattle at great distances from water at little more cost than animals on the normal maintenance diet and watered more frequently. The physiological response of cattle to drought, the ecological constraints imposed by livestock and wildlife competition, and the energetic efficiency of mixed milk and meat pastoralism explain why herders traditionally select their characteristic management practices.
- Research Organization:
- Wildlife Conservation Intl., New York Zoo. Society, Nairobi Kenya
- OSTI ID:
- 6964925
- Journal Information:
- Hum. Ecol.; (United States), Vol. 14:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Sell or not to sell - a pastoralist's dilemma: a lesson from the slaughterhouse
Geomorphic controls on hydrology and vegetation in an arid basin: Turkana district, northern Kenya
Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AFRICA
ARID LANDS
DROUGHTS
CATTLE
BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION
ENERGY CONSERVATION
FORAGE
POPULATION DYNAMICS
DIET
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
HUMAN POPULATIONS
METABOLISM
MILK
RANGELANDS
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
WATER RESOURCES
WILD ANIMALS
ANIMAL FEEDS
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BODY FLUIDS
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
ECOSYSTEMS
EFFICIENCY
FOOD
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
PLANTS
POPULATIONS
RESOURCES
RUMINANTS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
VERTEBRATES
290400* - Energy Planning & Policy- Energy Resources
320301 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Energy Sources