Ever since colonial administrators and western trained scientists became involved in sub-Saharan Africa in the early 20th century and were faced with the task of governing countries where livestock production was a major economic enterprise, the proper utilisation of rangelands became a major concern. While during most of the colonial era devastating epidemics (like rinderpest and pleuropneumonia) kept the growth of livestock populations in check, during the 1950s and 1960s regional campaigns of eradicating these major cattle diseases created a continuous increase in livestock numbers.

The paper argues that the indigenous knowledge of the Herero could provide the basis for better land-use policy and user rights in the communal lands of Namibia.This short article:reviews recent academic literaturelooks at the historical and legal backgound to land management in Namibiareports in 2 village field studies

This review explores environmental change in northern and south-central Kenya, roughly covering three decades from the 1960s to the 1990s. The report answers three questions:has vegetation change occurred in these districts?if vegetation change has occurred, why and how has this happened?what are the trends for livestock populations?The article concludes that:rangeland sites have been fundamentally altered by woody encroachment over the past 40 years.

It is clear from the failure of our efforts in many countries to halt the desertification process - deserts are now advancing at a rate of nearly 15,000,000 acres a year worldwide (Worrall 1984) (that something was missing in our knowledge of the problem). Four discoveries have been made that enabled us to design a simple holistic model to manage resources successfully in a sustained and economic manner.

This article looks at the changes which are taking place in the Syrian semi-nomadic bedouin flocks' feeding and migration patterns, and the historical reasons for these changes. Most of the discussion will focus on three steppe-based villages in northern Syria, where the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) undertook a three-year survey between 1978 and 1981, and where a follow-up study was done this year.

This paper examines the decline of common property resources in the arid zone of Rajasthan in India and the factors underlying the decline.The article concludes that:well-intentioned public programmes like land reformcan deprive a region of its comparative advantage in a key economic activity (in this case livestock farming)privatisation raises the cost of livestock raising and, hence, erodes the the region's comparative advantagethe continuing shrinkage and degradation of common property resources is likely to force further reduction in the size of livestock holdings and changes in their c

Local governance has become increasingly significant as devolution from central and provincial levels is being attempted in India as a result of the enactment of the 73rd and 74th Amendment of the Constitution in 1993. The essence of local self governance is to enable a small community to maintain access and control over their natural and physical resources, to take collective decisions in the common public good and to provide resources in priority developmental actions. Another dimension of local self governance is to demand accountability from people in public positions.

This article suggests that communual rangeland management policies in Botswana and Zimbabwe are based on incorrect technical assumptions about the stability of semiarid rangelands, the nature of rangeland degradation, and the benefits of destocking. Consequently, inappropriate policies, stressing the need to destock and stabilise the rangelands, are pursued.Acknowledgement of the great instability but intrinsic resilience of rangeland would encourage the Governments to more favourable regard the opportunistic stocking strategies of the agro-pastoralists of the Communual Areas.

This article discusses the zoning of 'Communual Areas' on tribal grazing land in Botswana, in which communities retain collective land rights.From the experience gained during six years of attempting to establish and operate communal grazing cells a number of conclusions can be drawn in relation to co-operative action and development project approaches and in the communal areas of Botswanahe communal grazing cell scheme was badly designed.

This article discusses the enclosure of rangelands and registration of exclusive rights to grazing by individuals or groups of pastoralists. This trend has been increasing greatly over the last twenty years. This occurs because:it is encouraged by governments, planners and multi-lateral donor agencies in an attempt to 'rationalise'the use of rangelands.

This article begins with an investigation into woodland management in Mali and moves onto a discussion of some of the fundamental practical problems associated with a major part of forest policy in Mali.

In Morocco's Western High Atlas Mountains, Berber agropastoralists are oblivious to the ideological debate over land tenure occurring in the rangeland development community. Berber producers of sheep and goats use a continuum of tenure institutions, from private ownership, to communal control, to uncontrolled, open range. Far from being ideological opposites, these different types of land tenure are complementary tools.