Pastoral Perceptions towards Livestock and Rangeland Management Practices in Kuraz District of South Omo Zone, South Western Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in Kuraz district of south Omo Zone, South Nation nationalities people regional state (SNNPRS), with the objectives of assessing perception of pastoralists on livestock-rangeland management practices. The mean family size of the study district per household was 6.86, with very low education coverage 9.6%, which means 90.4% of the pastoralists were non-educated. Pastoralism (68.3%) and agro-pastoralism (31.7%) were the dominant production systems. The sale of livestock and livestock products were ranked 1^st and 2^nd as the main source of income. Migration was the first measure taken to cope up drought followed by inter-clan dependence. Almost all of the respondents replied that compared to the past, their grazing lands are now covered with bushes and unpalatable shrubs. Drought and overgrazing were ranked to be the 1^st and 2^nd factors for bush encroachment in the district. Pastoralists in the study district ranked drought and feed shortage as 1^st and 2^nd major livestock production constraints respectively. Herbaceous pasture and browse species of rangelands were ranked as 1^st and 2^nd sources of livestock feed respectively. There is poor traditional knowledge of rangeland management practices mainly due to poor elders’ coordination and presence of Island (Desset) for dry season feeding. Pastoralists in the study district replied that compared to the past now a days there is increased frequency in occurrence of drought. In general, this study revealed that pastoralists in the study district has poor knowledge of range resource management and utilization practices hence, they have to be trained and aware of appropriate ways of management and improvement practices like rotational grazing, enclosed area utilization and bush clearing in order to increase the productivity of livestock and rangeland for sustainable utilization Keywords:  Bush encroachment, coping mechanism, livestock constraints, Migration and Pastoralists