Pastoralism is the main production system practised in rangelands and drylands, providing livelihoods to an estimated 500 million people globally. Yet, nowadays pastoral communities face challenges in accessing land, and mounting pressure on their livelihoods, due to policy misconceptions about pastoralism, as well as global trends including population growth and climate change.

This paper analyses the relationship between pastoral land tenure systems and the sustainability of pastoralism as a production system. It compares two regions in particular – the Andean Altiplano and the Kenyan Savannah – where it identifies different types of land tenure regime. It explores how these land tenure systems have changed over time and analyses the impacts on the sustainability of pastoralism within these very different ecological, social and cultural environments.

Authors:
Gerardo Damonte
Timothy Njagi
Lilian Kirimi
Manuel Glave
Sandra Rodriguez