| Part ofa series on |
| Economic,applied, anddevelopment anthropology |
|---|
Case studies
|
| Social andcultural anthropology |
Nomadic pastoralism, also known asnomadic herding, is a form ofpastoralism in whichlivestock areherded in order to seek for freshpastures on which tograze. True nomads follow an irregular pattern of movement, in contrast withtranshumance, where seasonal pastures are fixed.[1] However, this distinction is often not observed and the term 'nomad' used for both—and in historical cases the regularity of movements is often unknown in any case. The herdedlivestock includecattle,water buffalo,yaks,llamas,sheep,goats,reindeer,horses,donkeys orcamels, or mixtures of species.Nomadic pastoralism is commonly practised in regions with littlearable land, typically in thedeveloping world, especially in the steppe lands north of the agricultural zone of Eurasia.[2] Pastoralists often trade with sedentaryagrarians, exchanging meat for grains; however, they have been known to raid.
Of the estimated 30–40 million nomadic pastoralists worldwide, most are found incentral Asia and theSahel region of North and West Africa, such asFulani,Tuaregs, andToubou, with some also in theMiddle East, such as traditionallyBedouins, and in other parts of Africa, such asNigeria andSomalia. Increasing numbers of stock may lead toovergrazing of the area anddesertification if lands are not allowed to fully recover between one grazing period and the next. Increasedenclosure and fencing of land has reduced the amount of land for this practice.
There is substantive uncertainty over the extent to which the various causes for degradation affect grassland. Different causes have been identified which include overgrazing, mining, agricultural reclamation, pests and rodents, soil properties, tectonic activity, and climate change.[3] Simultaneously, it is maintained that some, such as overgrazing and overstocking, may be overstated while others, such as climate change, mining and agricultural reclamation, may be under reported. In this context, there is also uncertainty as to the long-term effect of human behavior on the grassland as compared to non-biotic factors.[4]
Nomadic pastoralism was a result of theNeolithic Revolution and the rise ofagriculture. During that revolution, humans begandomesticating animals and plants for food and started forming cities. Nomadism generally has existed in symbiosis with such settled cultures trading animal products (meat, hides, wool, cheese and other animal products) for manufactured items not produced by the nomadic herders.Henri Fleisch tentatively suggested theShepherd Neolithicindustry ofLebanon may date to theEpipaleolithic and that it may have been used by one of the first cultures ofnomadicshepherds in theBeqaa valley.[5][6] Andrew Sherratt demonstrates that "early farming populations used livestock mainly for meat, and that other applications were explored as agriculturalists adapted to new conditions, especially in the semi‐arid zone."[7]
In the past it was asserted that pastoral nomads left no presence archaeologically or were impoverished, but this has now been challenged,[8] and was clearly not so for many ancientEurasian nomads, who have left very richkurgan burial sites. Pastoral nomadic sites are identified based on their location outside the zone of agriculture, the absence of grains or grain-processing equipment, limited and characteristic architecture, a predominance of sheep and goat bones, and byethnographicanalogy to modern pastoral nomadic peoples[9]Juris Zarins has proposed that pastoral nomadism began as a cultural lifestyle in the wake of the 6200 BC climatic crisis whenHarifian pottery making hunter-gatherers in the Sinai fused withPre-Pottery Neolithic B agriculturalists to produce theMunhata[10] culture, a nomadic lifestyle based on animaldomestication, developing into theYarmoukian[11] and thence into acircum-Arabian nomadic pastoral complex, and spreadingProto-Semitic languages.[12]
InBronze Age Central Asia, nomadic populations are associated with the earliest transmissions ofmillet andwheat grains through the region that eventually became central for theSilk Road.[13] EarlyIndo-European migrations from thePontic–Caspian steppe spreadYamnayaSteppe pastoralist ancestry andIndo-European languages across large parts of Eurasia.[14][15] By the medieval period in Central Asia, nomadic communities exhibited isotopically diverse diets, suggesting a multitude of subsistence strategies.[16]
Often traditional nomadic groups settle into a regular seasonal pattern of transhumance. An example of a normal nomadic cycle in the northern hemisphere is:
The movements in this example are about 180 to 200 km. Camps are established in the same place each year; often semi-permanent shelters are built in at least one place on this migration route.
In sub-regions, such as inChad, the nomadic pastoralist cycle is as follows:
In Chad, the sturdy villages are called hillé, the less sturdy villages are called dankhout and the tents ferik.[18]
David Christian made the following observations about pastoralism.[19] The agriculturist lives from domesticated plants and the pastoralist lives from domesticated animals. Since animals are higher on the food chain, pastoralism supports a thinner population than agriculture. Pastoralism predominates where low rainfall makes farming impractical. Full pastoralism required theSecondary products revolution when animals began to be used for wool, milk, riding and traction as well as meat. Where grass is poor herds must be moved, which leads to nomadism. Some peoples are fully nomadic while others live in sheltered winter camps and lead their herds into the steppe in summer. Some nomads travel long distances, usually north in summer and south in winter. Near mountains, herds are led uphill in summer and downhill in winter (transhumance). Pastoralists often trade with or raid their agrarian neighbors.
Christian distinguished 'Inner Eurasia', which was pastoral with a few hunter-gatherers in the far north, from 'Outer Eurasia', a crescent of agrarian civilizations from Europe through India to China. High civilization is based on agriculture where tax-paying peasants support landed aristocrats, kings, cities, literacy and scholars. Pastoral societies are less developed and as a result, according to Christian, more egalitarian. One tribe would often dominate its neighbors, but these 'empires' usually broke up after a hundred years or so. The heartland of pastoralism is theEurasian steppe. In the center of Eurasia pastoralism extended south to Iran and surrounded agrarian oasis cities. When pastoral and agrarian societies went to war, horse-borne mobility counterbalanced greater numbers. Attempts by agrarian civilizations to conquer the steppe usually failed until the last few centuries. Pastoralists frequently raided and sometimes collected regular tribute from their farming neighbors. Especially in north China[20] and Iran, they would sometimes conquer agricultural societies, but these dynasties were usually short-lived and broke up when the nomads became 'civilized' and lost their warlike virtues.
Nomadic pastoralism was historically widespread throughout less fertile regions of Earth. It is found in areas of low rainfall such asArabian Peninsula (exceptYemen) inhabited byBedouins, as well asNortheast Africa inhabited, among other ethnic groups, bySomalis (wherecamel, cattle, sheep and goat nomadic pastoralism is especially common).[21] Nomadictranshumance is also common in areas of harsh climate, such asNorthern Europe and Russia inhabited by the indigenousSami people,Nenets people andChukchis. There are an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world.[22] Pastoral nomads and semi-nomadic pastoralists form a significant but declining minority in such countries asSaudi Arabia (probably less than 3%),Iran (4%), andAfghanistan (at most 10%). They comprise less than 2% of the population in the countries of North Africa exceptLibya andMauritania.[23]
TheEurasian steppe has been largely populated by pastoralist nomads since the late prehistoric times, with a succession of peoples known by the names given to them by surrounding literatesedentary societies, including theBronze AgeProto-Indo-Europeans, and laterProto-Indo-Iranians,Scythians,Sarmatians,Cimmerians,Massagetae,Alans,Pechenegs,Cumans,Kipchaks,Karluks,Saka,Yuezhi,Wusun,Jie,Xiongnu,Xianbei,Khitan,Pannonian Avars,Huns,Mongols,Dzungars and variousTurkics.
TheMongols in what is nowMongolia, Russia and China, and theTatars orTurkic people of Eastern Europe andCentral Asia were nomadic people who practiced nomadic transhumance on harsh Asiansteppes. Some remnants of these populations are nomadic to this day. In Mongolia, about 40% of the population continues to live a traditional nomadic lifestyle.[24] InChina, it is estimated that a little over five million herders are dispersed over the pastoral counties, and more than 11 million over the semi-pastoral counties. This brings the total of the (semi)nomadic herder population to over 16 million, in general living in remote, scattered and resource-poor communities.[25]
In the Middle Hills andHimalaya ofNepal, people living above about 2,000 m practisetranshumance and nomadic pastoralism because settled agriculture becomes less productive due to steep slopes, cooler temperatures and limited irrigation possibilities. Distances between summer and winter pasture may be short, for example in the vicinity ofPokhara where a valley at about 800 meters elevation is less than 20 km. from alpine pastures just below theAnnapurna Himalaya, or distances may be 100 km or more. For example, inRapti zone some 100 km west of Pokhara theKham Magar move their herds between winter pastures just north of India and summer pastures on the southern slopes ofDhaulagiri Himalaya. In far western Nepal, ethnic Tibetans living in Dolpo and other valleys north among the high Himalaya moved their herds north to winter on the plains of the upperBrahmaputra basin inTibet proper, until this practice was prohibited afterChina took over Tibet in 1950–51.[26]
The nomadicSami people, an indigenous people of northern Finland, Sweden, Norway, and theKola Peninsula of Russia, practise a form of nomadic transhumance based onreindeer. In the 14th and 15th century, when reindeer population was sufficiently reduced that Sami could not subsist on hunting alone, some Sami, organized along family lines, became reindeer herders. Each family has traditional territories on which they herd, arriving at roughly the same time each season. Only a small fraction of Sami have subsisted on reindeer herding over the past century; as the most colorful part of the population, they are well known. But as elsewhere in Europe, transhumance is dying out.[26]
TheMesta was an association of sheep owners, (Spanish nobility andreligious orders) that had an important economic and political role inmedieval Castile. To preserve therights of way of its transhumant herds throughcañadas, the Mesta acted against small peasants.[27]
In Chad, nomadic pastoralists include theZaghawa,Kreda, andMimi. Farther north inEgypt and westernLibya, theBedouins also practice pastoralism.[28]
Sometimes nomadic pastoralists move their herds across international borders in search of new grazing terrain or for trade. This cross-border activity can occasionally lead to tensions with national governments as this activity is often informal and beyond their control and regulation. In East Africa, for example, over 95% of cross-border trade is through unofficial channels and the unofficial trade of live cattle, camels, sheep and goats fromEthiopia sold toSomalia,Kenya andDjibouti generates an estimated total value of between US$250 and US$300 million annually (100 times more than the official figure).[29] This trade helps lowerfood prices, increase food security, relieve border tensions and promote regional integration.[29] However, there are also risks as the unregulated and undocumented nature of this trade runs risks, such as allowing disease to spread more easily across national borders. Furthermore, governments are unhappy with lost tax revenue and foreign exchange revenues.[29]
There have been initiatives seeking to promote cross-border trade and also document it, in order to both stimulate regional growth and food security, but also to allow the effective vaccination of livestock.[29] Initiatives include Regional Resilience Enhancement Against Drought (RREAD), the Enhanced Livelihoods in Mandera Triangle/Enhanced Livelihoods in Southern Ethiopia (ELMT/ELSE) as part of the Regional Enhanced Livelihoods in Pastoral Areas (RELPA) programme in East Africa, and the Regional Livelihoods Advocacy Project (REGLAP) funded by theEuropean Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO).[29]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Authority control databases: National |
|---|