The Economics of Mobile Pastoralism: A Global Summary

Abstract

The World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP) recently commissioned a series of reviews on the economics of pastoralism. Eight regional desk studies were conducted: (1) Southern Africa and the Horn, (2) West Africa, (3) East Africa, (4) North Africa, (5) South America, (6) Asia, (7) the Middle East, and (8) Europe. The studies sought to identify the contribution of pastoralism to domestic and global markets, by gathering productivity indicators and market behaviour, and identifying indirect values and methodologies for analysing indirect values. This review is intended to add to the global understanding on the importance of mobile pastoralism as a form of productive and sustainable land management. By gathering information, the review highlights existing knowledge on the value of pastoralism, gaps in this knowledge, trends in pastoral economies, and policy options that can support rangeland economies most effectively. Presented here is a summary of the main points relating to economic valuation of mobile pastoralism. Global total economic valuation, mobile pastoralism