East African pastoral adaptation and vulnerability to climate variability and climate change is assessed, using data from decision making processes and ecological data of the Maasai of Ngorongoro Conservation Area as an example. The paper uses integrated modeling, linking PHEWS, a household model, to SAVANNA, an ecosystem model to look at the effects of drought and a series of wet years on the well-being of Maasai pastoralists. Model results suggest that the ecosystem is quite resilient and suggests that the Maasai of the NCA are not very vulnerable to climate variability.

This paper reports on a four-site study conducted in the Sahelian zone of Niger. The study takes a novel mixed methods approach for understanding conflict management from the perspective of rural peoples by not only describing past highly publicized conflicts but also by analyzing the steps rural peoples follow to management disagreements that arise in their everyday lives. This “bottom-up” approach reveals both a capacity and preference among our informants to manage disagreements informally without involving village or extra-village authorities.

Les études sur la transhumance ont souvent ciblé les pasteurs – notamment peuls – des zones sahéliennes. Pour en donner une autre perspective, la présente étude a été centrée sur les pratiques de la transhumance dans la zone soudano-sahélienne du Mali en intégrant la perception des agriculteurs et des pasteurs sédentaires concernés par la transhumance dans les zones d’accueil. Les scénarios envisageables pour le futur des systèmes pastoraux ont aussi été analysés. Les données ont été collectées à travers des groupes de discussion et des enquêtes individuelles.

Large-scale land acquisitions have increased in scale and pace due to changes in commodity markets, agricultural investment strategies, land prices, and a range of other policy and market forces. The areas most affected are the global “commons” – lands that local people traditionally use collectively — including much of the world’s forests, wetlands, and rangelands. In some cases land acquisition occurs with environmental objectives in sight – including the setting aside of land as protected areas for biodiversity conservation.

Variable and low rainfall patterns combined with increasing population pressure have led to natural resources degradation in the Mopti region of Mali. This has forced both agricultural and pastoral communities to transform their production systems and social relations. To assess the adaptive capacities of these agro-pastoral communities to climate change, a participatory survey was conducted in the region between February and May 2009. The survey covered in total 175 households, covering 60 households per agro-ecological zone (i.e.