Accounting for pastoralists in Kenya

Jacob Barasa Wanyama / League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development / 2020

Kenya has some 8.8 million people (1.73 million households) who identify as pastoralists. Of these, 4.0 million individuals (0.8 million households) depend directly on livestock. They manage about 70% of the country’s cattle, 87% of its sheep and 81% of its goats, 100% of its camels, 88% of its donkeys and 74% of the beehives. Their products include milk, meat, honey, beeswax, and skins. The pastoral sector was worth $1.13 billion in 2019: 92% from livestock and 8% from other products and services.

Kenya’s tourism industry is highly dependent on pastoralism as it helps to conserve wildlife and unique cultures. Pastoralism’s support to tourism was worth $29 million out of a total industry value of $2.5 billion.

Official surveys do not use a “pastoralism” category, but by comparing county-level data for production systems and populations it is possible to estimate numbers of pastoralists. Bodies mandated with data collection should segregate data between pastoralists, agropastoralists and farmers.

  • Title: Accounting for pastoralists in Kenya
  • Author: Jacob Barasa Wanyama
  • Description: Information brief
  • Format: Pdf
  • Pages: 6

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    Accounting for pastoralists in India

    Kamal Kishore and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson / League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development / 2020

    Estimates of the number of pastoralists in India vary widely, but they probably total around 13 million people. Official data on livestock do not reflect the management system used. Both farmers and pastoralists rely on common-pool resources to maintain their animals. Around 77% of the country’s livestock are kept in extensive systems. Such systems produce an estimated 53% of India’s milk and 74% of its meat. The animals’ manure is a vital source of fertilizer for crop farmers; for many pastoralists manure is their main source of income.

    A wide range of pastoralist systems exist, from fully mobile to transhumant and sedentary. Species maintained in mobile systems include camels, cattle, ducks, donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep and yaks. Many pastoralists are members of traditional castes, but other groups, known as “non-traditional pastoralists”, are also taking up mobile herding.

  • Title: Accounting for pastoralists in India
  • Author: Kamal Kishore and Ilse Köhler-Rollefson
  • Description: Information brief
  • Format: Pdf
  • Pages: 6

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    Biocultural Community Protocol of the Camel Breeders of Rajasthan

    The Biocultural Community Protocol of the camel breeders of Rajasthan puts on record the breeders’ our role as a local community embodying a traditional lifestyle that is relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The breeders have stewarded and taken care of Rajasthan’s camel population for generations and their traditional knowledge and practices as well as customary rights are the foundation of Rajasthan’s camel culture and biodiversity. This protocol describes the traditional knowledge that they have used to manage Rajasthan’s camel population over the last few centuries but which cannot be taught through books, only through practical experience.

  • Title: Biocultural Community Protocol of the Camel Breeders of Rajasthan
  • Author: LPPS / Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan / 2017
  • Description: The Biocultural Community Protocol of the camel breeders of Rajasthan puts on record the breeders' our role as a local community embodying a traditional lifestyle that is relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity
  • Format: Zip
  • Pages: 33

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