Planning for Institutional Change in Utilization of Sub-Saharan Africa's Common Property Range Resources

Bibliographic Data

ID2594772
AuthorsJ Simpson (0000-0003-3641-5964), James R Simpson, Gregory M Sullivan (0000-0002-1707-4490)
Year1984
Volume27
Issue4
Pages61
Publication date1984-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-0206 • E-ISSN: 1555-2462
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/524059
OpenAlexW1993594110
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited9

Attempts to increase food productivity, make the agricultural sector more cost efficient, improve diets of lower income people, and increase net incomes of farmers and livestock owners are receiving considerable interest on a worldwide basis. In many areas, however, these goals are not being met. In particular, livestock development programs in arid and semi-arid pastoral and sedentary regions in Africa have been especially discouraging. The general problem confronted in this article is to determine why the livestock industry is not developing, and to analyze alternatives related to one major source of concern: communally grazed areas. Africa warrants a special place in development planning due to a multitude of non-economic factors. Political instability, language differences, and tribal and racial tensions have often tended to overshadow economic considerations (Bates, 1981). Perhaps most striking has been the heavy emphasis on equity considerations, possibly because many nations have recently emerged from colonial rule. The relatively short post emergence period (two to three decades in most cases) combined with the continent's economic and natural resource diversity, and a host of other factors such as trade policies, make analysis of economic development potential very difficult (World Bank, 1981). It is evident that there is no one problem and no unique solution in defining policies related to Sub-Saharan Africa's livestock sector.' Perhaps most important is to recognize that the various kinds of livestock systems themselves, as well as associated social institutions, are dynamic forces. Furthermore, it is crucial that the industry and associated problems be understood in the context of human population growth and pressure which has only recently emerged as a source of concern (Development Forum, 1984). In fact, it is population growth which is bringing about a shift in emphasis from livestock production as a primarily ethical or sociological problem to one of determining the role which livestock can play in meeting basic food needs. In this article, a perspective of Sub-Saharan Africa's livestock industry is developed by explaining the dynamic setting in which it is now found. Discussion then turns to communal grazing, a topic we feel has not been properly

Business · Common property · Economics · Institutional change · Natural resource economics · Political science · Property (philosophy · Property rights · Range (aeronautics · Agricultural Innovations and Practices · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Public Administration · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

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