This poster shows the locations of over 800 pastoralist groups around the world, and highlights pastoralist systems from the Arctic to Australia. The poster is DIN A1 size (59.4 x 84.1 cm or 23.4 x 33.1 inches).
The poster is based on the World map of pastoralists, prepared for the 2026 International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. Visit www.pastoralpeoples.org/pastoralist-map/ to see the full interactive map with details of each group.
Ilse Köhler-Rollefson / League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development / 2020
Pastoralism is a way of raising animals in association with nature. It entails the movement of people and herds across landscapes, making use of natural vegetation and crop by-products. Pastoralism corresponds to public demands for high animal welfare and environmentally friendly methods of livestock production.
If we want to make the livestock sector more sustainable, this production system requires strong policy support. But we currently do not know how many pastoralists there are either globally or within each country. This is due to the absence of data collection and because pastoralism is not a distinct category in livestock censuses. Outdated colonial concepts and one-sided focus on the “efficiency” of livestock systems have prevented the recognition of the benefits of pastoralism as a solar-powered, biodiversity-conserving food-production strategy. In order to monitor the situation and provide a basis for policymaking, FAO should lead a global initiative to define pastoralism and record data by production system.
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.
