Relating long-term rainfall variability to cattle population dynamics in communal rangelands and a government ranch in southern Ethiopia

Agricultural Systems

Volumn 94, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 715-725

  Angassa, Ayana ^a   Oba, Gufu ^a  

^a NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES   (Norway)

Author keywords

Cattle population; Drought management; Ethiopia; Herd die offs; Key and non key resources; Pond and tula well rangelands

Indexed keywords

ASSESSMENT METHOD; CATTLE; DENSITY DEPENDENCE; DROUGHT; LIVESTOCK FARMING; PARTURITION; POPULATION DECLINE; POPULATION DYNAMICS; RAINFALL; RANCHING; RANGELAND; RECRUITMENT; REPRODUCTION;

AFRICA; EAST AFRICA; ETHIOPIA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

ANIMALIA; BOS;

EID: 34249306923     PISSN: 0308521X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2007.02.012     Document Type: Article

References (38)

1. Alberro M. The Boran cattle and their tribal owners. World Animal Review 57 (1986) 30-39
2. Brumby, P.J., Trail, J.C.M., 1986. Animal breeding and productivity studies in Africa. ILCA Bulletin No. 23, Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
3. Coppock, D.L., 1994. The Borana plateau of southern Ethiopia: synthesis of pastoral research development and changes, 1980-90. ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
4. Cossins N.J., and Upton M. The Borana pastoral systems of southern Ethiopia. Agricultural Systems 25 (1987) 199-218
5. Cossins N.J., and Upton M. The impact of climatic variation on the Borana pastoral system. Agricultural Systems 27 (1988) 117-135
6. Cossins N.J., and Upton M. Options for improvement of the Borana pastoral system. Agricultural Systems 27 (1988) 251-278
7. Desta S., and Coppock D.L. Cattle population dynamics in the southern Ethiopian rangelands, 1980-97. Journal of Range Management 55 (2002) 439-451
8. Desta Z.H., and Oba G. Feed scarcity and livestock mortality in enset farming systems in the Bale highlands of southern Ethiopia. Outlook on Agriculture 33 (2004) 277-280
9. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), 2004. Drought impact mitigation and prevention in the Limpopo river basin. A situation analysis prepared by the FAO sub-regional office for southern and East Africa, Harare, FAO Corporate Document Repository.
10. Fernández-Giménez M.E., and Allen-Diaz B. Testing a non-equilibrium model of rangeland vegetation dynamics in Mongolia. Journal of Applied Ecology 36 (1999) 871-885
11. Fynn R.W.S., and O'Connor T.G. Effect of stocking rate and rainfall on rangeland dynamics and cattle performance in a semi-arid savanna, South Africa. Journal of Applied Ecology 37 (2000) 491-508
12. Gemedo-Dalle T. Vegetation Ecology, Rangeland Condition and Forage Resources Evaluation in the Borana Lowlands, Southern Oromia, Ethiopia (2004), Georg-August-University, Gottingen, Germany
13. Georgiadis N., Hack M., and Turpin K. The influence of rainfall on zebra population dynamics: implication for management. Journal of Applied Ecology 40 (2003) 125-136
14. Helland, J., 1980. Five essays on the study of pastoralists and development of pastoralism. African savannah studies. Occasional Paper No. 20, Bergen.
15. Hogg, R., 1990. An institutional approach to pastoral development: An example from Ethiopia: Third Livestock Development Project. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
16. Illius A.W., Derry J.F., and Gordon I.J. Evaluation of strategies for tracking climatic variation in semi-arid grazing systems. Agricultural Systems 57 (1998) 381-398
17. Illius A.W., and O'Connor T.G. On the relevance of non-equilibrium concepts to arid and semi-arid grazing systems. Ecological Applications 9 (1999) 798-813
18. Illius A.W., and O'Connor T.G. Resource heterogeneity and ungulate population dynamics. Oikos 89 (2000) 283-294
19. Kamara A.B., Swallow B., and Kirk M. Policies, interventions and institutional change in pastoral resource management in Borana, Southern Ethiopia. Development policy Review 22 (2004) 381-403
20. Kay R.N.B. Responses of African livestock and wild herbivores to drought. Journal of Arid Environments 37 (1997) 683-694
21. King, J.M., 1983. Livestock water needs in pastoral Africa in relation to climate and forage. ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa) Research Report No. 7.
22. Legesse A. The Gada: Three Approaches to the Study of African Society (1973), The Free Press, New York
23. Mellink E., and Martin P.S. Mortality of cattle on a desert range: paleobiological implications. Journal of Arid Environments 49 (2001) 671-675
24. Oba, G., 1998. Assessment of indigenous range management knowledge of the Borana pastoralists of southern Ethiopia. Commissioned by GTZ-Borana Lowland Pastoral Development Program in Collaboration with the Oromiya Regional Bureau for Agricultural Development, Negelle/Borana, Ethiopia.
25. Oba G., Stenseth N.C., and Lusigi W.J. New perspectives on sustainable grazing management in arid zones of sub-Saharan Africa. Bioscience 50 (2000) 35-51
26. Oba G., Post E., Syvertsen P.O., and Stenseth N.C. Bush cover and range condition assessments in relation to landscape and grazing in southern Ethiopia. Landscape Ecology 15 (2000) 535-547
27. Oba G. The effect of multiple droughts on cattle in Obbu, Northern Kenya. Journal of Arid Environments 49 (2001) 375-386
28. Oba G. The importance of pastoralists' indigenous coping strategies for planning drought management in the arid zone of Kenya. Nomadic peoples 5 (2001) 89-119
29. O'Meagher B., du Pisani L.G., and White D.H. Evaluation of drought policy and related science in Australia and South Africa. Agricultural Systems 57 (1998) 231-258
30. Rewe T.O., Indetie D., Ojango J.M.K., and Kahi A.K. Economic values for production and functional traits and assessment of their influence on genetic improvement in the Boran cattle in Kenya. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 123 (2006) 23-36
31. Ryan W.J., Williams I.H., and Moir R.J. Compensatory growth in sheep and cattle.1. Growth-pattern and feed-intake. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 44 (1993) 1609-1621
32. SAS Institute, 2001. Statistical Analysis System/GLM Software. Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
33. Scoones I. Wetlands in drylands - key resources for agricultural and pastoral production in Africa. Ambio 20 (1991) 366-371
34. Scoones I. Why are there so many animals? Cattle population dynamics in the communal areas of Zimbabwe. In: Behnke R.H., Scoones I., and Kerven C. (Eds). Range Ecology at Disequilibium: New Models of Natural Variability and Pastoral Adaptation in African Savannas (1993), Overseas Development Institute, London 62-76
35. Sullivan S., and Rohde R. On non-equilibrium in arid and semi-arid grazing systems. Journal of Biogeography 29 (2002) 1595-1618
36. Upton M. Production policies for pastoralists - the Borana case. Agricultural Systems 20 (1986) 17-35
37. Western D., and Finch V. Cattle and pastoralism: survival and production in arid lands. Human Ecology 14 (1986) 77-94
38. White D.H., Howden S.M., Walcott J.J., and Cannon R.M. A framework for estimating the extent and severity of drought, based on a grazing system in South-eastern Australia. Agricultural Systems 57 (1998) 259-270