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Papers through the years

Since 2011, Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice has published papers that shaped debate about pastoral mobility, indigenous knowledge, climate change, conservation, livelihoods, gender, sedentarisation, grazing systems, and animal health. This page highlights some influential papers and themes that are central to understanding pastoralism.

Citation counts updated March 2026

Foundational years

The journal’s early years helped define key conversations in pastoralism research, policy and practice. Highly cited papers in the journal’s early years focused in particular on vulnerability, resilience, conflict and livelihoods, helping to establish the journal’s contribution to core debates in the field.

Raiding pastoral livelihoods: motives and effects of violent conflict in north-western Kenya (PDF download link) — Janpeter Schilling, Francis EO Opiyo & Jürgen Scheffran, 2012 — 132 citations

Measuring household vulnerability to climate-induced stresses in pastoral rangelands of Kenya: Implications for resilience programming (PDF download link) — Francis EO Opiyo, Oliver V Wasonga & Moses M Nyangito, 2014 — 144 citations

Expanding debates

As the journal developed, its most influential papers increasingly engaged with wider social and environmental change. Topics on climate change, conservation and biodiversity, sedentarisation, livelihoods and wildlife became especially prominent.

Livestock mobility in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical review (PDF download link) — Matthew D. Turner & Eva Schlecht, 2019 — 143 citations

Indigenous weather and climate forecasting knowledge among Afar pastoralists of north eastern Ethiopia: Role in adaptation to weather and climate variability (PDF download link) — Mulubrhan Balehegn, Selam Balehey, Chao Fu & Wu Liang, 2019 —116 citations

Recent influential contributions

More recent highly cited work shows the continued breadth of pastoralism scholarship, including attention to women and gender, veterinary and animal health, and global and comparative perspectives alongside region-specific studies.

How many large camelids in the world? A synthetic analysis of the world camel demographic changes (PDF download link) — B. Faye, 2020 — 110 citations

Themes that shaped the journal

Across the years, the journal’s most highly cited papers cluster around ten recurring themes:

  • Mobility

  • Indigenous knowledge

  • Climate change

  • Conservation and biodiversity

  • Livelihoods and wildlife

  • Women and gender

  • Sedentarisation

  • Grazing systems

  • Livelihoods

  • Veterinary and animal health

Across regions

Highly cited papers in Pastoralism reflect research from and about a wide range of contexts, including Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and global and comparative perspectives.