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        <title>Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice | New and Recent Articles</title>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/pastoralism-research-policy-and-practice</link>
        <description>RSS Feed for Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice | New and Recent Articles</description>
        <language>en-us</language>
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        <pubDate>2026-07-14T01:53:56.503+00:00</pubDate>
        <ttl>60</ttl>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16130</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16130</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Pastoralist policy paradoxes in the Anthropocene. Relational ontologies and the marginalisation of lifeways among the Maasai (Tanzania), Hamar (Ethiopia), and the Fulani (the Sahel)]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-07T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Sara de Wit</author><author>Sara Petrollino</author><author>Han van Dijk</author><author>Mirjam de Bruijn</author>
        <description><![CDATA[African pastoralists such as Fulani, Hamar, and Maasai have long been entangled in global narratives that misrepresent their ecological practices, moral worlds, and adaptive strategies. Within Anthropocene discourse and climate-policy frameworks, they are either being portrayed as vulnerable victims of the climate change crisis, or as culprits of ecological degradation, or security threats that destabilise fragile states. Such framings revive colonial tropes, reinforce climate determinism, obscure the political and historical drivers of inequality and devalue local livelihoods. Drawing on ethnographic, linguistic, and historical research, this article argues that pastoralists’ relational ontologies, rooted in mobility, multispecies cohabitation, ritual, language, and moral ecologies, offer alternative socio-ecological knowledge that challenge technocratic and reductionist approaches to climate governance. Through cases from Fulani (Sahel), Hamar (southwest Ethiopia), and Maasai (northern Tanzania), we demonstrate how pastoralist lifeworlds cultivate ways of living with uncertainty and unpredictability, which remain undertheorised and misrecognised in dominant policy frameworks and scientific narratives. Recognizing pastoralist modes of knowing and being in this world is thus not merely an ethical imperative; it is foundational for developing more fine-grained, situated, just, and pluriversal Anthropocene futures.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16713</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16713</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Phenotypic diversity and milk production performance of Somali camel ecotypes under extensive pastoral systems]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-07-06T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Shafii Abdullahi Mohamed</author><author>Daha Hussein Mumin</author><author>Abdiaziz Ahmed Shurie</author><author>Abdinor Mohamed Mohamud</author><author>Hussein Mohamed Farah</author><author>Abdimajid Ali Abdullahi</author><author>Hassan Mohamed Hassan</author><author>Mehar S. Khatkar</author><author>Abdirahman A. Ali</author><author>Peter C. Thomson</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Somali pastoralists recognise four primary dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) ecotypes—Hoor, Aiden, Gellab, and Sifdacar based on conformation, coat characteristics, and perceived production utility; however, quantitative description of these classifications remains poorly documented. This study evaluated the phenotypic diversity and milk production performance of these ecotypes under extensive management systems. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 472 mature camels across the Banadir, Bay, Galgaduud, Gedo, and Lower Shabelle regions of Somalia. Eighteen linear body measurements and multiple qualitative traits were recorded, alongside daily milk production monitoring for lactating females. Animals were stratified and analysed by ecotype, sex, and two age class (8–11 and 12–15 years). Live body weight was estimated via a barymetric equation, and ecotypic means were compared using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s multiple range test. The results confirmed significant phenotypic differentiation among the ecotypes. Among breeding males aged 8–11 years, the Aiden ecotype exhibited the highest estimated body weight (430 ± 30.2 kg, mean ± SEM), whereas Sifdacar displayed the greatest height at withers (161.0 ± 7.44 cm), and facial length (57.0 ± 2.26 cm). Within the older male cohort (12–15 years), Aiden remained the heaviest (500.88 ± 38.14 kg), whereas Sifdacar males exhibited the lowest (361.80 ± 48.24 kg), while Sifdacar retained distinctive structural frame traits despite a lower body mass. Qualitative assessments characterised Hoor females by relatively larger udder and teat dimensions. Despite these distinct morphological divergences, milk production varied minimally among groups. Mean daily milk yield ranged from 7.24 to 7.70 L/day, and the overall ecotype effect was statistically non-significant (P = 0.814). These findings validate indigenous pastoral knowledge, demonstrating that Somali camel ecotypes represent morphologically distinct biocultural resources. Furthermore, the data suggest that under extensive production frameworks, daily milk yields are heavily modulated by environmental and management factors rather than ecotypic identity alone. This study establishes a foundational morphometric and production baseline to support community-based breeding programs, advance animal genetic resource conservation, and strengthen the camel dairy value-chain development in Somalia.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16455</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16455</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Reconsidering the middleman: asymmetries in a direct-contact producer-buyer alpaca fiber roundtable in Peru]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-06-26T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Julia Bello-Bravo</author><author>Luiz F. Brito</author><author>Gerardo Cornelio Mamani Mamani</author><author>Yezelia Danira Cáceres Cabana</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Disintermediation is often presented as a means of improving producer welfare by “cutting out the middleman” and allowing producers and buyers to transact directly. However, from the perspective of transaction cost economics, information asymmetry, and market-access theory, removing intermediaries does not eliminate the functions they perform; rather, it reallocates search, verification, liquidity, risk-bearing, aggregation, and enforcement costs to other actors or infrastructures, often producers. This theory-informed qualitative case study examines a state-convened alpaca-fiber business roundtable held in Arequipa, Peru, where 17 producer associations from seven high-Andean regions met with 5 buyer firms in a structured direct-contact format. Drawing on observational field notes, analytic debriefings, thematic coding, and event documents, the study analyzes how disintermediation shaped bargaining power between alpaca-fiber producers and buyers. Findings show that the roundtable reduced buyer search costs and generated public reference prices above some traditional intermediary offers, but did not substantially redistribute bargaining power to producers. Instead, formerly intermediary functions reappeared as producer-side obligations organized through buyer-defined standards, sample comparability, laboratory verification, certification, minimum-volume requirements, delayed payment, logistics, and weak post-event enforceability. These dynamics were especially consequential in a pastoralist fiber economy where product value depends on technical grading, trusted classification, aggregation capacity, and culturally situated forms of exchange. The study argues that improving producer outcomes requires more than simply direct contact, but producer-centered transaction infrastructures, including independent sampling and testing, transparent price records, enforceable purchase-intention mechanisms, stronger producer coalitions, and digital or face-to-face intermediation designed around Indigenous data sovereignty and the practical knowledge, values, and way of life of traditional alpaca pastoralism.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16714</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16714</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Pastoral vulnerability to drought: geographic and socio-demographic drivers of drought-related camel mortality in Somalia]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-06-26T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Mohamed Abdirahim Omar</author><author>Mohamed Ahmed Hassan</author><author>Abdisalam Hassan Muse</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Pastoralism supports over 60% of Somalia’s population, with camels being vital for economic resilience. However, intensifying droughts pose severe threats. This study addresses the gap in species-specific data by identifying geographic and socio-demographic drivers of household-level camel mortality in Somalia. Using the 2020 Somalia Demographic and Health Survey, we analyzed 5,925 camel-owning households. The outcome was self-reported camel death due to drought within the preceding 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression identified independent predictors, controlling for socio-demographic, economic, and environmental confounders. Overall drought-related camel mortality was 45.91%. Geographic location was the dominant predictor; compared to Awdal, risk was highest in Sool (AOR = 7.74; 95% CI 5.76–10.41, p < 0.001), Nugaal (AOR = 4.12; 95% CI 2.93–5.80, p < 0.001), and Sanaag (AOR = 4.07; 95% CI 3.02–5.49, p < 0.001). Nomadic households faced significantly higher odds of loss than urban households (AOR = 2.87; 95% CI 2.29–3.60, p < 0.001). Additionally, susceptibility increased with the age of the household head, particularly for those over 54 years (AOR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.31–1.92, p < 0.001). Wealth index and household head sex were not statistically significant in the adjusted model. Camel mortality is driven by systemic and geographic vulnerabilities rather than individual economic status, highlighting the failure of traditional coping mechanisms against community-wide shocks. Resilience strategies must shift from reactive aid to proactive measures, including culturally adapted Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI), community-based recovery systems like camel leasing, and strengthened market infrastructure.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16200</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16200</link>
        <title><![CDATA[“We love our livestock”: relational care-based One Health in pastoral drylands]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-06-22T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Evan F. Griffith</author><author>Angela Opondoh</author><author>Catherine Kaluwa</author><author>Erenius Lochede Nakadio</author><author>Kipkorir Rotich</author><author>Job Ronoh Kipkemoi</author><author>Jonah Levin</author><author>Jacob Mutua</author><author>Janetrix Hellen Amuguni</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Pastoralist communities in the Horn of Africa face intensifying health and livelihood challenges driven by climate change, infectious disease outbreaks, and conflict. One Health (OH) has gained prominence as a holistic approach capable of addressing these interconnected socioecological risks. Yet gendered OH research in pastoral settings has narrowly focused on zoonotic disease. As a result, little is known about how pastoralist men and women themselves conceptualize OH–what aspects are most important and how they understand the relationships between them. To address this gap, we aimed to generated locally grounded, gendered understandings of OH to inform more equitable and effective OH policy and practice. We employed a mixed methods approach that combined fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) with grounded theory qualitative analysis. We conducted 15 small-group mapping sessions with pastoralist men and women across one village and five kraals in Turkana County, Kenya. Maps were aggregated by gender and analyzed using network metrics, while mapping transcripts were analyzed using the One Health Coding Paradigm–applied for the first time to gender analysis. Women’s maps had more components and connections, while men and women shared the same top ten most central components in their maps. These included human and livestock health, nutrition, access to services and natural resources. Within shared components, women emphasized drought, workload, nutrition, and education, while men emphasized veterinary service delivery tradeoffs, income, and conflict. We found gendered roles, institutional access, and power relations shaped how men and women conceptualized OH in distinct ways. Women understood OH through embodied labor and care, while men had a governance and risk perspective. Women also demonstrated less knowledge of zoonotic diseases due to their exclusion from formal and customary decision-making and governance spaces. We argue that care-based OH represents a paradigm shift capable of expanding OH beyond its biomedical focus, and that gender is not only an equity concern but a fundamental analytical entry point for more effective and equitable OH policy and practice in pastoral drylands.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15944</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15944</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Rainmaking and climate change: global discourse and local perspectives over regicide in South Sudan]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-06-16T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Isao Murahashi</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This article analyses how agro-pastoral communities perceive, adapt to, and address the effects of variable weather through a case study of regicides occurring during drought in South Sudan. Recently, South Sudan has been regarded as one of the African countries most severely affected by climate change. This global climate-change discourse has shaped narratives among policymakers and the media. Over the past decade, several communities in the ‘hills and mountains agro-ecological zones’ have experienced incidents in which villagers expelled or killed rain chiefs accused of deliberately stopping the rain. While the South Sudanese government and media attribute the droughts leading to these events to climate change, this view contrasts sharply with local perspectives. This article investigates two recent cases of rain chief killings among the Lopit, focusing on locally constructed beliefs about the relationship between nature and humans, as well as internal social conflicts. For the Lopit, rain is the central symbol connecting local religion and politics. Rain chiefs, believed to control weather within and during their reign, are responsible for ensuring rainfall according to their agricultural calendar, which is essential for community wellbeing and livestock health. They also serve as intermediaries between humans and the divine, helping people maintain and restore relationships with the divine. However, in this region of variable weather, rain represents both authority and risk. Drought not only causes conflict between communities and rain chiefs but also exposes underlying social tensions. This article contends that the straightforward link between drought and climate change requires reconsideration and highlights the importance of examining the morality of regicides.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16611</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16611</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Editorial: The role of pastoral livestock and products in climate change: a complicated issue]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-06-12T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Special Issue Editorial</category>
        <author>Andrei Marin</author><author>Jonathan Davies</author><author>Fiona Flintan</author><author>Carol Kerven</author><author>Rashmi Singh</author>
        <description></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16429</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16429</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Pastoral lands and the green transition: opportunities and challenges]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-06-01T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Perspective</category>
        <author>Jonathan Davies</author><author>Suraj Pratap Singh Bhati</author><author>Hussein Wario</author><author>Maansi Rawat</author><author>Ann Waters-Bayer</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The green transition–the global response to the climate and biodiversity crises–is generating demand for land to implement renewable-energy and carbon-sequestration projects. Rangelands have been attractive to investors because of their large extent, their high potential for wind and solar energy and for carbon sequestration and storage, and the perception that they are currently misused and easily available. In theory, green-transition projects could benefit pastoralists, but many projects alienate pastoralists’ land, undermine their rights, and weaken their livelihoods. A few projects have been implemented in ways that respect or strengthen pastoralist rights, engage pastoralist communities in meaningful consultation, and ensure equitable benefit sharing. These experiences demonstrate that pastoralists are not inevitable victims of the green transition and do not need to be excluded from green transition opportunities. A just green transition depends on upholding pastoralist rights, enabling their effective participation, and ensuring equitable allocation of benefits.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16171</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.16171</link>
        <title><![CDATA[How is decision-making about grazing management influenced by reliance on rangelands at farm level? Insights from small ruminant farms in French Mediterranean areas]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-05-20T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Elisa Deschamps</author><author>Magali Jouven</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Shrubby and wooded rangelands are highly heterogeneous environments that require adaptive grazing management. In the Mediterranean basin, their use is increasingly challenged by climate change, land abandonment, and the erosion of intergenerational knowledge. This study examined how small-ruminant farmers structure their decision-making about rangeland use, depending on their reliance on them to feed the flock. We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews in Ardèche and Hérault (France), covering diverse farm types and levels of reliance on pastoral resources. Discourse analysis identified four objects shaping decision-making for all farmers: landscape units, vegetation, pastoral resources, and animal behaviour. The farms were categorized in three groups (P−, P, P+) on the basis of the integration of rangelands into the feeding system, ranging from input-dependent feeding systems aimed at the stability of intake and animal performance, to systems relying heavily on rangelands and aimed at self-sufficiency, accepting variations in animal performance. The three types of farms were associated with contrasted decision-making systems, ranging from simplified and reactive approaches based on a limited set of measurable indicators (e.g., resource availability, animal performance), to more integrative and anticipatory strategies combining multiple indicators such as vegetation dynamics, resource diversity and animal behaviour. This study provides a structured way to analyse how farmers mobilise knowledge and indicators in their decision-making, and helps identify how additional information may complement farmers’ decision-making in a context-specific manner.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15834</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15834</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Assimilation of indigenous nomadic pastoralist knowledge in the Public Governance of Sámi Reindeer Husbandry]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-05-13T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Inger Marie G. Eira</author><author>Mathis P. Bongo</author><author>Mia Carina E. Jægervand</author><author>Anni M. Magga-Eira</author><author>Inger Ellen J. E. Gaup</author><author>Anders Oskal</author><author>Marina Tonkopeeva</author><author>Rauna Triumf</author><author>Ravdna Biret Marja E. Sara</author><author>Svein Disch Mathiesen</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This article examines how Norwegianization and subsequent governance reforms have reshaped Sámi reindeer herders’ understandings of sustainable reindeer husbandry as a nomadic pastoral system operating under non-equilibrium Arctic conditions. While assimilation’s effects on language and identity are well documented, its consequences for pastoral learning systems, household governance, and adaptive capacity remain less systematically analysed. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, policy documents, and testimonies to the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the article provides a thematic synthesis of how state rationalization, educational restructuring, and administrative standardization have reconfigured Sámi Indigenous pastoral knowledge. The analysis shows that assimilation operates through governance mechanisms that translate Sámi professional language, siida-based organization, gendered earmark rights, and place-based ecological knowledge into standardized administrative categories. Reforms introduced from the 1970s onward privileged equilibrium-oriented and production-based indicators, marginalizing flexible, mobility-centered pastoral logics. Over time, these governance transformations have interacted with globalization, infrastructural expansion, land fragmentation, and climate change, intensifying pressures on seasonal mobility, pasture access, and the annual cycle central to nomadic pastoral adaptation. These processes have weakened intergenerational knowledge transmission, narrowed learning arenas, and redefined land-use competence as regulatory compliance rather than adaptive navigation of variable socio-ecological systems. Under accelerating climate change and land-use fragmentation, the resilience of Sámi reindeer husbandry depends on restoring coherence between language, mobility, household-siida organization, and practice-based learning. The article argues that seanadit, reconciliation grounded in institutional and epistemic realignment, is a prerequisite for robust pastoral governance in the Circumpolar North.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15646</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15646</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Participatory livestock movement routes and resource mapping in pastoral areas of Oromia and Somali Regions, southern Ethiopia]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-05-06T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Dagim Gebresilassie Berhanu</author><author>Yasin Getahun</author><author>Solomon Gizaw</author><author>Barbara Wieland</author><author>Samuel Tefera</author><author>Theodore Knight-Jones</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Pastoralism is both a way of life, and a livelihood strategy for millions of people around the world and for more than four million people in Ethiopia. Better understanding of pastoralist routes allows improved delivery of services, contributing to sustainable development, and poverty reduction. Livestock routes and resource mapping was conducted from December 2019 to December 2022 using participatory mapping approaches in key pastoral areas of the Somali region and Oromia region in southern Ethiopia. In total, 96 livestock routes, 14 livestock markets, 49 animal health posts, 44 human health posts, and 142 livestock watering and salt lick points were identified and mapped by participants in the study areas. Just under 10% (n = 9) of mapped livestock routes were non-functional at the time of mapping because of poor provision of services and lack of security along the routes, limiting access to grazing resources and precipitating over-grazing in accessible rangelands. Mapping, servicing, and protecting livestock routes and resources in pastoralist areas is vital for delivering development activities tailored to the pastoral community. This research provides essential information on the location and status of livestock routes and resources for the government and other stakeholders, and the methods presented can be applied to serve other pastoralist systems.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15619</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15619</link>
        <title><![CDATA[From margins to markets: overcoming stakeholder and information barriers in south Omo’s pastoral livestock trade, Ethiopia]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-05-04T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Rahmeto Abebe</author><author>Abate Yesigat</author><author>Nigussie Afesha</author><author>Akalewold Fedilu</author><author>Mulye Girma</author><author>Yaynabeba Abayneh</author><author>Haile Welearegay</author><author>Mebratu Mulatu</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Livestock marketing plays a vital role in Ethiopia’s economy, especially in pastoral regions such as South Omo, where it supports livelihoods, income generation, and market integration. This study examined stakeholder coordination, broker dynamics, market information access, and governance in four districts (Benatsemay, Dasenech, Nyangatom, and Hamer) using qualitative methods, including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and market observations. The findings indicate that, although informal institutional arrangements, such as steering committees and role definitions, are in place, their practical effectiveness is constrained by weak coordination, fragmented communication, and inconsistent implementation. This situation appears to create governance gaps within which brokers play a central but dual role. While they facilitate transactions by linking buyers and sellers, their influence, reinforced by limited market information and weak regulatory oversight, enables them to shape price formation and information flows. Access to reliable and timely market information was found to be limited, with pastoralists largely relying on informal sources and intermediaries. This contributes to information asymmetry, which may weaken their bargaining position and affect market outcomes. The livestock marketing system is further characterized by a multi-layered and partly informal structure, with a significant proportion of transactions occurring outside formal market settings. Overall, the findings suggest that market inefficiencies are associated with the interaction of weak coordination, information asymmetry, and informality, rather than the absence of institutional frameworks. Strengthening the implementation of existing coordination mechanisms, improving regulatory enforcement, and enhancing access to reliable market information are critical areas for improving pastoral market participation and outcomes.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15978</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15978</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Farmers’ knowledge of, and attitudes towards oxpeckers in the Salambala Conservancy, northeastern Namibia]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-04-28T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Michael S. Lukubwe</author><author>Adrian J. F. K. Craig</author><author>Charles Byaruhanga</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Oxpeckers (Buphagus spp.) are obligate avian mutualists that feed on ectoparasites of large mammals, including cattle. Despite their ecological significance, few studies have examined local perceptions of oxpeckers in communal pastoral systems where chemical tick control is prevalent. This study assessed livestock farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with oxpeckers in the Salambala Conservancy, northeastern Namibia, where Red-billed Oxpeckers and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers co-occur with managed cattle herds. Structured interviews were conducted with 200 randomly selected farmers. The respondent perceived oxpecker impact (positive or negative) on cattle farming was evaluated using scores from six impact responses. Data analyses were conducted to determine the association of predictor variables (participant socio-demographics, knowledge, attitude and perceptions) with perceived oxpecker impact using descriptive, random forest and linear modelling, univariate and multivariable statistics. Awareness of oxpeckers was high (99.5%). Tick control was practiced by 78% of farmers, primarily using synthetic pyrethroids and organophosphates (52%), while some farmers applied traditional practices (20.5%), or did not control at all (21.5%). Positive oxpecker perceptions predominated (79.5%), mainly linked to tick removal, although 29% reported negative impacts such as wound aggravation and blood-feeding. The final multivariable analysis revealed that respondents who applied oxpecker control measures had significantly lower impact scores (more negative oxpecker attitude) compared to those who did not (p < 0.0001). Conversely, respondents who wished for increasing oxpecker populations had significantly higher impact scores (more positive oxpecker attitude, p = 0.029). Suggestions to increase oxpecker populations were through conservation programs and captive breeding (29% respondents) and re-introduction of oxpeckers from other areas (19.5%). These findings highlight the importance of integrating ecological knowledge with socio-economic realities to promote coexistence. Strengthening integrated tick management approaches that reduce chemical control and keep ticks to acceptable numbers can enhance community-based conservation initiatives, which are critical for sustaining oxpecker-livestock interactions.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15989</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15989</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Beyond pastoralism: challenges and strategic solutions in Iranian sheep farming]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-04-28T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Farbod Naghshbandi</author><author>Enayat Abbasi</author><author>Ali Maghsoudi</author><author>Aliakbar Masoudi</author><author>Rasoul Vaez Torshizi</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Sheep farming in Iran has a long and significant history, and the country is widely recognised as one of the centres of sheep domestication. However, the structure and practices of sheep farming have undergone substantial changes over the past two decades, the underlying drivers of which have not yet been systematically examined. Therefore, this study investigates the major challenges facing the Iranian sheep industry and proposes strategic solutions to promote its sustainable development. To address these issues, this study employed the Delphi method to collect and synthesise expert perspectives in order to identify key areas requiring intervention and improvement. The findings highlight the need to strengthen rangeland management practices, implement genetic improvement programmes to enhance livestock resilience, and provide greater educational and technical support to farmers. The proposed policy framework emphasises the establishment of cooperatives to empower farmers through collective resource management, knowledge sharing, and improved market access. In addition, it advocates for supportive policies focused on the sustainable management of pasture and forage resources and the expansion of targeted training programmes for sheep farmers. These strategies aim to enhance the resilience, productivity, and long-term viability of the Iranian sheep sector, enabling it to adapt effectively to contemporary environmental, economic, and social challenges. Moreover, the proposed framework could serve as a reference model for other regions experiencing similar livestock management constraints, underscoring the value of shared learning and collaborative approaches to sustainable agricultural development. By comprehensively addressing structural and operational challenges, this study contributes to strengthening the sustainability of the Iranian sheep industry while supporting national food security and rural livelihoods.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15770</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15770</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Pastoralists as peacebuilders: lived experiences from conflict-affected communities in northern Nigeria]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-04-23T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Emmanuel Ojo</author><author>Van Crowder</author><author>Austen Moore</author><author>Olusola Isola</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This study explores the lived experiences of herders in Adamawa State, Nigeria, who participated in peacebuilding interventions implemented by Catholic Relief Services in response to recurrent farmer-herder conflict. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the research centers herders’ voices to examine how they interpret, negotiate, and internalize peacebuilding efforts within their socio-cultural and relational contexts. Data were collected through focus group discussions across Shelleng and Yola South Local Government Areas. Findings indicate that herders perceive peacebuilding not merely as the cessation of violence, but as an ongoing process of restoring dignity, gaining social recognition, and reducing the fear of exclusion. Participants emphasized community dialogues, symbolic inclusion by local leaders, and the rebuilding of intergroup trust as crucial indicators of meaningful peace. Importantly, these narratives reveal how pastoralists challenge dominant, sedentary-oriented intervention models by redefining peace as relational and embedded in everyday agrarian life. By foregrounding the agency of a historically marginalized group, this study contributes to pastoralism and peacebuilding scholarship, underscoring the need for development strategies attuned to the realities of mobile pastoralist communities and the power relations that shape their inclusion and exclusion.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15977</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15977</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Analysis of property rights practice contradictions and typical models in grassland pastoral areas: a field survey based on Abaga Banner, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-04-23T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Xiaoning Zhang</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Based on 81 household interview data collected from Honggor Gol Town, Abaga Banner, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, this study systematically analyzes four core contradictions in the practice of property rights in desert rangeland pastoral areas: rangeland right certification contradictions, rangeland tenure contradictions, property rights dispute resolution contradictions, and contradictions between ecological policies and property rights implementation. By refining the operational guidelines of T-B’s “Hoof and Leg Theory” and “Four-Point Balance” model, combined with cost-benefit analysis, this study proposes an optimization path of “collaborative right certification, standardized tenure allocation, professional mediation, and differentiated ecological policies.” Responding to Ostrom’s common-pool resource governance theory and context dependence theory, this research fills the gap in micro-level studies on property rights practice in ecologically sensitive desert rangeland areas, providing empirical evidence and theoretical support for the improvement of rangeland property rights systems in pastoral areas.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15739</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15739</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Feasibility analysis of livestock protection implementation on alpine pastures]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-04-10T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Isabella E. Faffelberger</author><author>Felix Knauer</author>
        <description><![CDATA[In a changing world, large carnivores are making a significant comeback in Europe. Despite this success for conservation and ecosystem functioning, the coexistence of humans with such species is a challenge for societies worldwide. One of the main conflicts is attacks on livestock by wolves and brown bears. To protect livestock, practices are recommended that have been used successfully in countries where large carnivores have never become extinct. Sheep and goats are the most vulnerable livestock species to large carnivore attacks. In Austria, they are particularly at risk on alpine pastures, where they tend to graze unattended and unprotected. In this study, we developed an algorithm that can predict suitable prevention measures against large carnivore attacks on sheep and goats for each individual alpine pasture in the Austrian Alps. The prevention measures considered are electric fencing and shepherding with herding dogs, livestock guard dogs and night pens. We show that all sheep and goats on the Austrian alpine pastures can be protected by these measures, but this includes moving some of the animals to other pastures. This algorithm was validated by field visits to 22 alpine pastures. These results show firstly that damage prevention is possible in Austria, even on alpine pastures. However, these results are based solely on technical feasibility, such as terrain, land cover and capacity, rather than operational and institutional feasibility, such as labour, agreements, acceptance and costs. These results also show that it will require major changes, because these measures are costly and, perhaps more importantly, will break with some local traditions, because some of the sheep and goats will have to be moved to other alpine pastures. Public support must therefore include not only subsidies for the prevention measures themselves, but also technical and logistical support to make this change feasible.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15827</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15827</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Introducing a special issue: What lessons to be learnt from reindeer-herding research in Russia?]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-03-31T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Joachim Otto Habeck</author><author>Kirill V. Istomin</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This introductory paper outlines the aim and tasks of the special issue “Reindeer herding research: Crossing disciplinary and regional borders of biology and social science”. After presenting the content of the special issue, the article illustrates the importance of overcoming political and disciplinary borders by focusing on one aspect of Soviet/Russian reindeer-herding research which is little discussed in the other contributions to the issue: zootechnics. In particular, reindeer zootechnics include functional types, herd structure, pasturing techniques, slaughter strategy, and productivity indicators. Attention is paid to tracing how this research was received, deliberated, and utilized in Fennoscandia, and to its role in developing the so-called Røros Model. It is demonstrated that Soviet reindeer-related research as perceived in Fennoscandia can best be understood as a (partial) traveling model. Similarly, it can be suggested that Fennoscandian experiments with fenced herding were perceived by Soviet specialists in a similar manner. Finally, it is shown how expert scientists gradually came to acknowledge reindeer herders’ own knowledge, thus shifting from “recommendation” mode towards more mutual knowledge exchange.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15869</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15869</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Rinderpest eradication and the resilience of African pastoralism]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-03-25T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Luciano Venturi</author><author>Fabio Ostanello</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Rinderpest eradication is often presented as a landmark in veterinary public health; less systematically examined are its medium- and long-term implications for pastoral systems that rely on mobility and collective rangeland use. This narrative review synthesises historical and contemporary evidence on (i) how rinderpest shocks interacted with pastoral livelihoods during the African pandemic and subsequent outbreaks, and (ii) how eradication-era approaches to surveillance, vaccination logistics and field delivery shaped later models for controlling transboundary animal diseases. It is argued that the same features underpinning pastoral resilience–mobility, flexible herd management, and social networks–may also increase disease exposure and hinder sustained access to veterinary services, particularly where service delivery models remain campaign-centred and externally financed. Although the eradication of rinderpest produced substantial welfare gains, these benefits were uneven and were often limited by the ongoing burden of other infectious diseases (e.g., peste des petits ruminants, foot-and-mouth disease) and by under-resourced routine animal health systems. Lessons for current eradication initiatives can be drawn: credible surveillance needs to be embedded within locally legitimate institutions; vaccination strategies should be aligned with seasonal mobility and market networks; and enabling environments for Community Animal Health Workers are essential to sustain coverage beyond time-limited programmes. These insights help reposition rinderpest eradication as both a success story and a cautionary case for designing equitable, durable animal health services in pastoral settings following a One Health approach.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15693</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/articles/10.3389/past.2026.15693</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Enteric methane emission factors for sheep in Mongolian extensive grazing systems: a Tier 2 approach]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-03-20T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Altantsetseg Lkhamaachin</author><author>Lkhagvatseren Sukhbaatar</author><author>Nyamsuren Nyam-Osor</author><author>Otgondemberel Galaaraidii</author><author>Yanfen Cheng</author><author>Togtokhbayar Norovsambuu</author><author>Choikhand Janchivlamdan</author><author>Munkhtuya Amarsanaa</author><author>Baasanjalbuu Bayaraa</author><author>Jigjidpurev Sukhbaatar</author><author>Ming-Zhi Zhang</author><author>Otgonpurev Sukhbaatar</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Methane emissions from livestock are a significant contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas outputs, yet region-specific emission factors are often lacking for nomadic pastoral systems. This study determined annual enteric methane emission factors for sheep across three major agro-ecological zones of Mongolia: Desert-steppe, steppe, and forest-steppe, considering animal sex and age categories. Animal performance data were collected for adult males (>3 years), adult females (>3 years), young sheep (1–2 years), and lambs (<1 year). According to the IPCC Tier 1 methodology, the default emission factor for adult sheep is 5 kg CH4/head/year, while lamb values are estimated at approximately 2 kg CH4/head/year. Nevertheless, these generalized values fail to capture country-specific differences in animal productivity, diet quality, seasonal feed availability, and grazing management, thereby introducing significant uncertainty into national greenhouse gas inventories. Results showed that females consistently exhibited higher emission factors than males, with values ranging from 6.0 to 6.1 kg CH4/head/year, compared to 5.40–5.45 kg CH4/head/year for males. Young sheep emitted between 4.3 and 4.9 kg CH4/head/year, while lamb emissions were lowest at 1.6–1.8 kg CH4/head/year. These findings provide updated, region-specific methane emission factors for Mongolian sheep, supporting the refinement of national greenhouse gas inventories and climate change mitigation strategies.]]></description>
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