Agropastoralism
Agropastoralism (from Latin ager = field and pastor = shepherd, guardian) describes subsistence-oriented , traditional forms of economy in which agriculture and pastoralism (livestock farming on natural pastures) are combined and both areas make an important contribution to livelihood.
The way of life of agropastoral groups is sedentary , semi- sedentary or semi-nomadic , depending on the circumstances . If the change of pasture takes place between plains and mountains, one speaks of “ transhumance ” in relation to livestock farming . Grain cultivation always requires permanent residence (at least for a few years), while livestock farming requires a change of pastureland in some years or in dry rooms . Agropastoralists therefore use permanent residences and, in some cases, various mobile dwellings.
Agropastoralism is by far the most common in tropical open landscapes with more than 400 mm to over 600 mm of annual precipitation, in which largely stationary grazing is possible. In subtropical and arid Mediterranean mountain regions with rainfall between 300 and 400 mm a transhumant change of pasture is necessary. In areas with even less precipitation - which require very long cattle migrations - an agropastoral subsistence strategy is only possible if the cultivation of the fields can take place in an oasis or with the help of permanent irrigation. Altogether between 160 and 460 million people live from traditional forms of sedentary or semi-sedentary animal and plant production. Since these economic methods are sometimes attributed to soil construction and sometimes to pastoralism, depending on the survey, a more precise number cannot be determined.
Pure pastoralism presupposes a production that exceeds own needs in order to be able to exchange or buy plant products for it. Agropastoralists, on the other hand, can be self-sufficient and therefore usually have smaller herds. As a rule, they do not sell more than 10% of their products in local markets.
While European agropastoralism declined sharply in the course of the common division during the 19th century, it is widespread in Asia and especially in Africa and is considered an ecologically sustainable form of land use in many areas .
Agropastoral ways of life in Africa
Agropastoralism is widespread today in many arid areas of Africa (dry savannah landscapes and catchment areas of large rivers). Seventy percent of Kenya and half each of Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan are included. Starting from the historical "Cattle Complex" of East Africa , in which the typical African forms have developed, since the middle of the 20th century many nomadic shepherds have also adopted a semi-nomadic / semi-sedentary lifestyle in the Sahel region .
In East Africa, the following ethnic groups still combine their cattle breeding with the cultivation of the dry land: Somali , Afar , Beja, Rendille and Gabbra (who are regarded as specialized camel breeders), the cattle and small livestock keeping Turkana , Pokot, Maasai and Samburu , the Nuer , Dinka and Toposa in Sudan; in Ethiopia the Dasenech, Mursi , and Omoro; the Ugandan Karimojong , Jie and Teso and in Tanzania the Parakuyu and Tatoga .
Barley, wheat and millet as winter cereals are the most important crops in agropastoralism. As in Schwendbau of shifting cultivation practice, takes place after sowing to harvest no more nursing care or fertilization. In arid regions, however, irrigation is often carried out using a traditional qanat system, in which water is tapped from higher groundwater reservoirs. In addition, date palms are often cultivated because they do not require any irrigation and produce high-quality yields from a nutritional point of view. If the climate permits, tomatoes, peppers, onions and potatoes are horticultural . In order to protect against bad harvests caused by droughts, pests or heavy rain and to maintain soil fertility, long fallow periods are observed and the cultivation times and varieties are often varied.
After the harvest, the harvest products that are unusable for humans are fed to the cattle. When this feed is used up, shepherds wander with the animals from the village to the savannah and back. Longer pasture hikes over several weeks only occur among the agropastoralists of the dry subtropics . While for the mobile animal keepers of the semi-deserts and steppes the condition of the pastures is decisive for the "migration behavior", for the agropastoralists it primarily determines the conditions for agriculture. When the fields don't yield enough, the whole village moves.
Individual evidence
- A 1. calculated from: Total pastoralism according to UNEP (2014) minus mobile animal husbandry according to Schlee (2010).
- ↑ calculation result
- ^ A b Anne Hegge: Agropastoralism - Phenomenon and description of African examples. Term paper for the lecture agricultural geography with special focus on North Africa, Chair for Urban Geography and Geography of Rural Areas, University of Bayreuth, 2003. pp. 1–22
- ↑ Schultz, J. (2008): The Earth's Eco Zones . Stuttgart: Ulmer. ISBN 978-3-8252-1514-9 , pp. 280-281
- ↑ a b c d Tobias Kühr: Traditional diets in developing countries - typical nutritional deficiencies and approaches to improving the nutritional situation using the example of Africa. Diploma thesis to obtain the degree of a qualified nutritionist, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 2007. pp. 12–13.
- ^ Per Brandström, Jan Hultin, Jan Lindström: Aspects of Agro-Pastoralism in Eastern Africa , Uppsala 1979, pp. 10-18
- ^ Melville J. Herskovits: A Preliminary Consideration of the Culture Areas of Africa. in American Anthropologist , New Series, Vol. 26, No. 1, 1924.
- ↑ Fred Scholz : Nomadism is dead. In Geographische Rundschau , Issue 5, 1999, pp. 248-255
- ↑ Sustainable Pastoralism and Post 2015 agenda. www.unep.org, accessed on December 9, 2014 PDF version
- ^ Günther Schlee in Oliver Samson: Asia: Nomads - the first victims of climate change. In: Deutsche Welle . July 6, 2010, accessed September 1, 2014.