Current Discussion: Pastoralism, Land, Water and Climate Change 

One of the greatest advantages of pastoralism is that it places no burden on groundwater resources. It requires no irrigation and, during the rainy season, animals can often obtain all their water needs from the plants that they ingest. The livestock kept by pastoralists can withstand a higher degree of dehydration than modern breeds and have physiological mechanisms to minimize water loss from their systems. Therefore they can graze far away from water sources.

Having endured centuries, or even millennia of combined human and natural selection, pastoral livestock is “climate ready”, so to speak, and can withstand any turn of climatic events and other challenges. (View more)

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