Pastoralism

These services include conserving and restoring biodiversity in the rangelands and the soil fertility in croplands, and providing markets with animal-source food and by-products. The Pastoralists Knowledge Hub (PKH) supports research initiatives aimed at assessing pastoralism’s contribution to the ecosystems. It highlights its key role for the future of the livestock sector and, more broadly, for world food systems.

Climate change consequences – rising temperature, extended drought periods or changes in seasonality – affect pasture availability and reduce water sources. The PKH seeks to contribute to the resilience of pastoralists by advocating for their right to mobility and showing their complementary contribution to other livelihood and production systems, such as rain-fed agriculture or agroforestry.

The collection of data is essential to understand the importance of pastoralism, its contribution to local and national societies and to better inform policies. The PKH supports and leads field activities aimed at assessing the true value of pastoral systems, such as its total economic tangible and intangible value.

For this reason, the PKH encourages and leads dialogue with political institutions at different levels – local, national, regional, and international – to ensure that policies acknowledge pastoralism’s specificities.

While established laws may allow beneficiaries to secure pastoral tenure and exercise their rights to access natural resources, it is often necessary to recognize and incorporate customary governance systems at the local level, and include informal systems of governance in the decision-making processes. For instance, the PKH  supports countries in the implementation of  the “Technical Guidelines on Improving Governance of Pastoral Lands”.