Development Among Africa's Migratory Pastoralists

(Hardback)

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Beginning with the Sahelian drought of the 1970s, through the complex succession of catastrophes in Ethiopia, and continuing tragedies of Somalia and the Southern Sudan, the plights of Africa's more than 30 million migratory pastoralists receive bursts of international television coverage and emergency aid, yet the underlying problems within their largely marginal lands remain unresolved. Virtually all past approaches and specific attempts at development among them have failed. A prominent problem has been inabilities of involved persons within diverse disciplines to communicate effectively with one another and to cooperate. In addressing this continent-wide problem, the authors adopt a practical approach and provide sufficient detail to illustrate its likelihood to achieve positive results within the severe constraints of available resources and other current realities. They propose, for the first time, meaningful and realistic possibilities for bettering the lives of these numerous peoples in ways they themselves would desire.

Reviews

"Majok...and Schwabe...provide an overview of contemporary African pastoralists living in arid and semiarid environments, with an in-depth focus on the Dinka of southern Sudan, the Maasai and Turkana of Kenya, and the Somali.... [T]his book will be of great value to students of veterinary and animal science, social science, and international development."-Choice
It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of the problems raised by Majok and Schwabe.-International Journal of African Historical Studies
Majok...and Schwabe...provide an overview of contemporary African pastoralists living in arid and semiarid environments, with an in-depth focus on the Dinka of southern Sudan, the Maasai and Turkana of Kenya, and the Somali.... [T]his book will be of great value to students of veterinary and animal science, social science, and international development.-Choice
One of the book's greatest strengths is its demonstration of a sophisticated analysis of human ecology, using a holistic approach that integrates findings from geology, botany, geography, and social anthropology....Majok and Schwabe's approach to development planning and implementation is a radical departure from existing practices, and is based on the pragmatic recognition of several major problems.-African Studies Quarterly
This clearly written book is a result of decades of scientific enquiry, humane concern and practical activity....This book is a practical demonstration of the viability of traditional pastoralism and a testament of faith and hope in its future. The scientific authority which it carries should be a help to social anthropologists, and others who have to try and persuade rangeland and ranching experts, economists, development agencies, and schooled and urbanised politicians, that pastoralists, if only they are encouraged to exercise their skills, can be national economic assets and not just tourist baits.-Social Anthropology
"It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of the problems raised by Majok and Schwabe."-International Journal of African Historical Studies
"One of the book's greatest strengths is its demonstration of a sophisticated analysis of human ecology, using a holistic approach that integrates findings from geology, botany, geography, and social anthropology....Majok and Schwabe's approach to development planning and implementation is a radical departure from existing practices, and is based on the pragmatic recognition of several major problems."-African Studies Quarterly
"This clearly written book is a result of decades of scientific enquiry, humane concern and practical activity....This book is a practical demonstration of the viability of traditional pastoralism and a testament of faith and hope in its future. The scientific authority which it carries should be a help to social anthropologists, and others who have to try and persuade rangeland and ranching experts, economists, development agencies, and schooled and urbanised politicians, that pastoralists, if only they are encouraged to exercise their skills, can be national economic assets and not just tourist baits."-Social Anthropology

Author Bio

AGGREY AYUEN MAJOK is currently Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology and Chairman of the Department of Clinical Veterinary Studies at the University of Zimbabwe. He is a cattle-owning pastoralist from the Nile basin's Dinka tribe and was Director of Veterinary Services for the Southern Region of Sudan. CALVIN W. SCHWABE, an international authority on tropical and parasitic diseases, has been a global instigator of medical-veterinary cooperation. He helped establish, directed or served as scientific advisor to research and postgraduate programs in Africa, the Middle East, India and Latin America.