The long-term viability of pastoralism has been a constant theme for discussions. The progress of knowledge on the sustainability of pastoralism under global environmental change has been notable in the last years. To better characterize this vulnerability, we have examined the existing scientific knowledge about the three dimensions of vulnerability, being exposure illustrated by the existing climate trends and non-climate transformations, sensitivity by the impacts of these on pastoral resources and pastoral land conversions, and adaptation by the adaptation strategies developed by the pastoral communities. A qualitative meta-analysis was conducted to explore patterns and trends across the literature. From this, six different pathways of vulnerability being followed by pastoral communities were identified: Encroachment, Re-greening, Customary, Polarization, Communal and No-alternative.

The results point that the livelihood options of pastoralists are generally becoming narrower. Four major forces are identified as exerting determinant influence on the co-production of the vulnerability of pastoralism: (i) the double exposure to climate and non-climate transformations, (ii) the persistence of unfavorable development policies, (iii) the great vitality of adaptation, and (iv) the multifaceted role of markets. We point that it is crucial to distinguish between the component of vulnerability inherent in any economic activity devoted to the use of natural resources, which is the usual business of pastoralism, and the component of vulnerability linked to external forces that disturb the usual working of the pastoral production strategies.

/pdf/what-drives-the-vulnerability-of-pastoralists-to-global-54jyb4rm38.pdf

What drives the vulnerability of pastoralists to global environmental change? A qualitative meta-analysis

Coping strategies for individual and household‐level water insecurity: A systematic review

Drylands occupy more than 80 % of Kenya’s total land mass and contribute immensely to the national economy and society through agriculture, livestock production, tourism, and wild product harvesting. Dryland ecosystems are areas of high climate variability making them vulnerable to the threats of land degradation. Consequently, agropastoralists inhabiting these ecosystems develop mechanisms and technologies to cope with the impacts of climate variability. This study is aimed to; (1) determine what agropastoralists inhabiting a semi-arid ecosystem in Kenya attribute to be the causes and indicators of land degradation, (2) document sustainable land management (SLM) technologies being undertaken to combat land degradation, and (3) identify the factors that influence the choice of these SLM technologies. Vegetation change from preferred indigenous forage grass species to woody vegetation was cited as the main indicator of land degradation. Land degradation was attributed to recurrent droughts and low amounts of rainfall, overgrazing, and unsustainable harvesting of trees for fuelwood production. However, despite the challenges posed by climate variability and recurrent droughts, the local community is engaging in simple SLM technologies including grass reseeding, rainwater harvesting and soil conservation, and dryland agroforestry as a holistic approach combating land degradation and improving their rural livelihoods. The choice of these SLM technologies was mainly driven by their additional benefits to combating land degradation. In conclusion, promoting such simple SLM technologies can help reverse the land degradation trend, improve agricultural production, food security including access to food, and subsequently improve livelihoods of communities inhabiting dryland ecosystems.

Combining Sustainable Land Management Technologies to Combat Land Degradation and Improve Rural Livelihoods in Semi-arid Lands in Kenya

The causes of land degradation in the African drylands have been shown to vary. Some researchers consider climate to be the major contributor to degradation, with anthropogenic factors playing a minor role. Others reverse the significance of these two factors. A third group attributes land degradation to climate and anthropogenic factors equally. This study was undertaken to establish the factors influencing land degradation in a semi-arid environment in southeastern Kenya and the rate of change in vegetation types for a period of 35 years (1973–2007). The reduction in grassland cover was used as an indicator of land degradation. Causes of land degradation were determined by a multiple regression analysis. A log-linear regression analysis was used to establish the rate of vegetation change. The multiple and log-linear regression analyses showed: (1) woody vegetation, livestock population and cultivated area to be the main contributors of reduction in grassland cover in the area, and (2) an increase in undesirable woody species, livestock population and cultivated area had a significant (P<0.05) negative effect on grassland vegetation. Increased human population, low amounts of rainfall and drought showed no significant negative effect on grassland vegetation cover. In conclusion, human and livestock population growth and increased agricultural land have contributed to intensive crop cultivation and overgrazing in the semi-arid lands. This overuse of the semi-arid rangelands has worsened the deterioration of the natural grassland vegetation.

Determinants and rates of land degradation: Application of stationary time-series model to data from a semi-arid environment in Kenya

This review assesses the potential of the African continent to contribute to the three main targets of the new science decade of IAHS (Panta Rhei): understanding, estimation and prediction, and science in practice. The continent has an extremely diverse climate and physical environment, and is faced with many problems in the interaction between hydrology and society. While inadequate financial and institutional resources often constrain the pursuit of high-level scientific research, there is substantial hydrological research capacity within Africa. The topics covered over the past decade have partly anticipated some of the research themes adopted as part of the Panta Rhei initiative. African hydrological scientists should therefore be in a better position to make future contributions, largely because their research is already grounded in applications linked to societal needs. Some of the papers reviewed and included in the special issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal introduced in this paper ref...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02626667.2015.1072276

A review of aspects of hydrological sciences research in Africa over the past decade

Climatic variability has affected livelihoods of people in many ways chief among them being the dwindling water resources. Water is the most limiting factor in crop and livestock production in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of sub-Saharan Africa. Rainfall which is the only source of water in these areas shows very high spatial and temporal variability. Effects of climatic change are already being experienced in these areas and global changes in climate are expected to further exacerbate the inherent vulnerability of communities living in such ecosystems. Communities have to deal with more uncertain weather, with extreme events occurring more frequently. For ecosystems in the rangelands, crop, forage and livestock production closely follow rainfall trends thus putting livelihoods of a number of households at risk. Farmers in these areas have adopted practices to cope with the climatic change and reduce their vulnerability. This study was carried out by administering questionnaires and the study area comprised of two administrative Districts namely Kibwezi and Kajiado, predominantly occupied by agropastoralists and semi-nomadic pastoralists respectively. The study area is located in the semi-arid southern rangelands of Kenya. The altitude of the area varies from 600m to 1,100m above sea level. The average annual rainfall, evaporation and temperatures are in the order of 600mm, 2,000mm and 23 0 C respectively. For over four decades, the study area has been experiencing increasing climatic anomalies. In the agro-pastoral areas, mixed farming of crops such as maize, green grams and pigeon peas is the main source of livelihood, whereas livestock production is the main activity in the pastoral areas. Most (98%) of the respondents mentioned increased dry conditions occasioned by recurrent droughts as the main unusual climatic events experienced over the years and the extended dry conditions are experienced almost every year. The extreme weather conditions have affected the agro-pastoralists more than the pastoralists. The impacts of the climatic change are also reflected in increased crop failures; change of type of crops grown and livestock species kept; low crop, forage and livestock productivity; poor health of crops and livestock; reduction in land under cultivation; change of planting time; reduced daily food consumption; increased livestock and human diseases; and change in livestock management plans. In response to climate variability, households had developed both short and long term coping/adaptive mechanisms which includes planting of drought tolerant and early maturing crops, run-off harvesting, water harvesting using micro-catchments, early or dry planting, increased migration of men to urban centers to seek wage employment, de-stocking of herds, change of herd structure. The study shows that the main response to water scarcity for crops is run-off harvesting and drilling of boreholes.

Livelihoods under climate variability and change: an analysis of the adaptive capacity of rural poor to water scarcity in Kenya's drylands.

Livelihoods Under Climate Variability and Change: An Analysis of Adaptive Capacity of Rural Poor to Water Scacity in Kenya's Drylands

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

W. N. Mnene

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Livelihoods under climate variability and change: an analysis of the adaptive capacity of rural poor to water scarcity in Kenya's drylands.

Livelihoods Under Climate Variability and Change: An Analysis of Adaptive Capacity of Rural Poor to Water Scacity in Kenya's Drylands