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Transhumance, Livestock Mobility and Mutual Benefits Between Crop and Livestock Production

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Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 31

Part of the book series: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews ((SARV,volume 31))

Abstract

Grazing-based livestock production, named pastoralism, is classified into nomadism, transhumance and agro-pastoralism. Transhumance is characterised by the seasonal and recurring movement of livestock whereby seasonal grazing areas and routes for livestock movement are fixed. All grazing based livestock production systems including transhumance are constrained globally for a variety of reasons. The major threats to the system are globalisation, nationalisation or privatisation of rangelands, national parks and community forestry policies restricting free grazing and shortage of labour. The collapse or decline of such social-ecological systems (SESs), which have existed for over 1000s years, often induces adverse impacts on societies and ecosystems. Here we review the literature on transhumance, and discuss reasons for transhumance, and the associated advantages and disadvantages of livestock movement in transhumance. Our review also focuses on how the integration of crop and livestock production in transhumance derives mutual benefits. The review indicates that the seasonal movement of livestock is an ecological necessity in areas with harsh climates and low pasture production. Transhumance is also a herders’ adaptive management to adjust to variable grazing resources and environmental conditions. The disadvantages of seasonal movement of livestock such as greater herding labour required and expenditure of more energy for livestock, are far outweighed by the ecological advantages. Some of these are: to minimise grazing competition and to protect rangeland pastures from being overgrazed. Our review also indicates that the integration of crop and livestock production derives mutual benefits and contributes for their enhanced sustainability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

    Suman Aryal, Tek Maraseni & Geoff Cockfield

  2. School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Lisa Lobry de Bruyn

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  1. Suman Aryal
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  2. Tek Maraseni
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Correspondence to Suman Aryal .

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  1. Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRA, Coll de France, CEREGE, Technopôle de l’Arbois-Méditerranée, Aix en Provence, France

    Eric Lichtfouse

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Aryal, S., Maraseni, T., Cockfield, G., de Bruyn, L.L. (2018). Transhumance, Livestock Mobility and Mutual Benefits Between Crop and Livestock Production. In: Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 31. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94232-2_2

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