But what is pastoralism? Many Americans are not familiar with the term, despite the large role that pastoral practices play in the lives of most of the world’s livestock keepers. True pastoralists move with their livestock over the seasons as conditions change, a practice known as transhumance, according to Dr. Jablonski. They typically inhabit arid or semi-arid lands, as wetter climates tend to support crop farming, or a mix of crop farming and livestock production- known as agropastoralism. Dr. Jablonski, in collaboration with Dr. Pickering and Dr. Reid, further defines agropastoralists in their review: “agropastoralists are settled people who grow both crops and herd livestock and thus convert part of rangelands into croplands.” ²

Within this study, the authors emphasize common issues that pastoralists face in the modern world, and work to debunk common misconceptions. “Today, some pastoralist observers think the bigger challenge to rangeland health and pastoral well-being is the ‘tragedy of enclosure’. This is when people subdivide rangeland, often privatize and fence it, and then settle down and stop herds from moving. When livestock cannot move to ephemeral green pastures, livestock are less productive.” ²

Because pastoralists rely on open rangelands, people often view this mechanism of production as “unregulated”, despite the practices of pastoralism proving to be successful and sustainable. “(Pastoralism) experiences crises rooted in misconceptions and poor interdisciplinary understanding, while being largely overlooked in international sustainability forums and agendas.” ³

Dr. Jablonski, Dr. Pickering, and Dr. Reid describe the daily efforts that pastoralists put into developing successful production practices: “working through customary institutions, pastoralists carefully plan daily and seasonal movements to access the best forage but also to avoid conflicts, access water and other key resources, and maximize livestock health.” ²

An additional review by authors from Colorado State University and the International Livestock Research Institute titled “Global Significance of Extensive Grazing Lands and Pastoral Societies: An Introduction,” describes the challenges that pastoralists face amid a changing world. ⁴ This study highlights pastoralists’ integral role in global livestock production, while also providing a medium for other scientists to understand the value of the pastoralist way of life.  

This paper highlights the importance of “dry-ness” ⁴ to sustainable management of grazing livestock, as wetter environments can be more prone to degradation from overgrazing. This is because livestock can remain in wetter environments year-round which can disrupt soil and plant health. In comparison, drylands are less prone to degradation when pastoralists are forced to move to seek forage, leaving previously grazed areas to recover. 

This review identifies the fragmentation of grazing lands as a major challenge to the viability of pastoralism.  “We suggest that the application of ideas of private land ownership and agricultural intensification, so clearly advantageous in mesic environments, has restricted the movements of people, livestock, and wildlife across drier landscapes, thereby limiting their access to resources that fluctuate over time”. ⁴ This plays a role in global food insecurity, as the restriction of physical movement amongst pastoralist communities leads to loss of overall productivity.  

At AgNext, we aim to emphasize the importance of considering the diversity of livestock production practices that take place across our planet when researching solutions for a sustainable agricultural economy. Colorado State University has great expertise within the pastoral realm and AgNext strives to use this as an advantage to bring together folks from different types of production to find common solutions.  

“Unfortunately, most of our conversations about sustainable livestock production ignore the vast majority of the world’s livestock keepers, who are small farmers, agro-pastoralists, and pastoralists,” says Dr. Jablonski. He adds that it is important that our sustainability research considers the needs of all livestock keepers, rather than just those using western-style production practices and participating in market economies.   

For agriculture to be truly sustainable, all peoples, animals, organizations, businesses, and governments involved with the production, distribution, and sale of agricultural products must be included to find realistic solutions and plans. Pastoralism should be included in this matrix, as pastoralism manages more land on earth than any other livelihood. ²