Climate effects on nomadic pastoralist societies

Nomadic pastoralism is a form of pastoralism when livestock are herded to find fresh pastures on which to graze. The herded livestock include cattle, yaks, sheep, goats, reindeer, horses, donkeys or camels, or mixtures of species. Nomadic pastoralism is commonly practiced in regions with little arable land, typically in the developing world.

Changing climates have a significant influence on pastoralists who pursue environmentally dependent livelihoods. In harsh hot or cold landscapes, the ability to obtain adequate fodder to fatten animals is the endemic challenge. Shifts in weather patterns, seasonality of precipitation and recharge of sub-surface water sources are vital to the viability of herding. When customary physical and social systems are affected by climate or governance, herders can become ‘environmental migrants’, forced to migrate away from home territories, a process that often necessitates leaving pastoralism altogether. In the past this displacement might have resulted in cross-border movement.

Thus, climate change becomes a threat-multiplier for pastoralists who have reduced resilience to adapt, particularly financially, to climate threats. This centers on drought in Oman and extreme cold in Mongolia (often in combination with drought). In both regions these factors instigate out-migration to towns and cities with devastating implications for pastoralists.

Bibliography

Chatty, D. (2015). Climate effects on nomadic pastoralist societies. Oxford: forced mgration review.