Dromedary camel value chains present significant opportunities for attracting investors and reinvesting in rangeland restoration. Despite declining productivity and limited development of dromedary milk products, the sector remains crucial for its resilience in arid ecosystems and socioeconomic importance in the southern regions of Tunisia. The authors take a reflective approach to explore the potential of dromedary value chains in Tunisia. The study highlights the dual benefits of investing in these value chains, to drive economic development and environmental conservation, by employing a combination of desk review, key informant interviews (n = 11), and SWOT analysis. The sector assessment reveals statistical complexities and fluctuations in milk and meat production. Key informant interviews gathered insights from breeders, processors, traders, policymakers, and experts on challenges, opportunities, and feasibility of investment and rangeland restoration initiatives. The SWOT analysis identified internal strengths and weaknesses in the dromedary sector and external opportunities and threats. Recommendations include modernizing dromedary camel farming (settled, semi-intensive systems) and herding practices (nomadic and extensive pastoralism), transitioning to sustainable breeding and fattening, improving biosecurity and veterinary services, and enhancing feed management and genetic improvement. Strengthening value chains involves investing in processing infrastructure, marketing, product diversification, and structured milk collection networks. Integrated rangeland management includes cultivating fodder crops and protecting vegetation cover. Governance improvements through dromedary breeder associations, stakeholder engagement, and effective regulation are also crucial. Findings may inform policymakers, development agencies, financial institutions, and private investors about the dromedary sector’s potential in Tunisia, guide targeted interventions for growth and sustainability, and provide pathways to rangeland restoration. By addressing challenges and leveraging unique capabilities, dromedary value chains can drive economic development, environmental conservation, and social resilience in the region.
Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is recognised as a critical One Health challenge globally, threatening human, animal, and environmental health. In Senegal, pastoral livestock systems provide the bulk of animal-source foods, yet little evidence exists on antibiotic use practices that may foster ABR. This study aimed to investigate antibiotic use in pastoral farming in Kaffrine, Senegal, and its implication for ABR transmission across the food system. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and April 2023 among 220 pastoralists in Kaffrine. Participants were selected using Schwartz’ formula, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews using an adapted CGIAR AMUSE Livestock questionnaire, translated into local languages. Data were analysed descriptively with R Studio (version 4.3.2.). Respondents were predominantly men (86.8%), with limited formal education (81%). Common animal diseases included Plague of small ruminants (52.7%), Lumpy skin disease (39%), and Pasteurellosis (28.1%). Antibiotic use was extensive, dominated by tetracyclines (88.6%), followed by penicillins (10.4%). Usage was mainly for treatment (94%), prevention (42.7%), and growth promotion (33%). Administration was carried out by para-veterinarians (50.9%) and untrained auxiliaries (45.9%), while 40.5% of pastoralists practiced self-medication for their animals. Although 65.5% recognised ABR as a public health issue, only 5.5% adopted reduction strategies, primarily vaccination. Notably, 65.5% administered antibiotics to lactating animals, and only 55% observed withdrawal periods before slaughter, averaging 4 days. Non-compliance, inadequate dosages, and treatment interruptions were frequent. Despite awareness of ABR, misuse of antibiotic remains generalized in pastoral systems in Kaffrine, posing significant food safety and public health risks. Expanding access to veterinary services, strengthening vaccination programmes, and enhancing antibiotic stewardship through an increased number of veterinary drug inspectors and adequate financial resources for effective monitoring and regulatory oversight are critical to mitigating ABR and safeguarding sustainable food systems.
Goat milk production is increasingly promoted in West Africa as a strategy to improve nutrition, diversify livestock production systems, and create income opportunities for smallholder farmers; however, consumer acceptance remains a major constraint to the development of the goat dairy sector. This study aimed to analyze perceptions, acceptability, and factors influencing the consumption of goat milk and its derived products (GMDPs) in northern Benin. A survey was conducted among 236 individuals in the cities of Parakou and Ndali. Respondents were categorized into three groups: consumers of goat milk and derived products (n = 81), knowledgeable non-consumers (n = 77), and non-knowledgeable individuals (n = 78). Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and analysis of variance to identify socio-demographic differences and determinants of consumption behavior. The results showed that consumers were significantly younger (30.04 ± 5.14 years) than knowledgeable non-consumers (36.09 ± 10.31 years) and non-knowledgeable individuals (39.28 ± 11.27 years) (p < 0.001). Gender and education level did not significantly influence consumption (p > 0.05), whereas religion and profession showed highly significant differences between groups (p < 0.001). The main motivations for consumption were curiosity (25.9%), social recommendation (24.7%), and perceived health benefits (24.7%). Among knowledgeable non-consumers, the main constraints were product unavailability, high price, lack of information, and uncertainty about product quality rather than negative perceptions of goat milk itself. Among non-knowledgeable individuals, many expressed willingness to try goat milk under certain conditions, including improved availability, lower prices, recommendations from relatives, and information on nutritional benefits. Approximately 66.67% indicated they would consume goat milk if locally produced. Among non-knowledgeable individuals, goat milk was the product most frequently selected for future trial (46.15%), ahead of cheese (28.21%) and yogurt (25.64%). Overall, the study indicates that the main barriers to goat milk consumption are related to market access, product availability, and information rather than sensory rejection. Improving awareness, processing, marketing strategies, and distribution networks could significantly enhance the adoption of goat milk and its derived products in northern Benin and support the development of the goat dairy value chain.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a key role in climate regulation and the functioning of ecosystems. However, the impact of grazing on its distribution in Mediterranean oak silvopastoral soils is not well understood. This study analysed the effects of grazing on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in two oak-based silvopastoral systems in northeastern Portugal, namely Quercus pyrenaica and Quercus rotundifolia. Soil samples were collected at depths of 0–10 cm and 10–30 cm before and after grazing cycles. The concentrations of carbon and nitrogen in total soil and in three particle-size fractions (sand, silt, and clay) were quantified following physical fractionation. Multivariate analysis (PCA) and generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) were used to evaluate the effects of stand-forming tree species, presence of grazing, and soil depth. Soil carbon and nitrogen were significantly influenced by stand-type and soil depth, whereas grazing had no significant effect. Higher SOC values were observed under Q. pyrenaica, reaching 35.00 (±2.07 SE) g kg−1 in the 0–10 cm layer, compared with 24.6 g kg−1 under Q. rotundifolia. Carbon stocks ranged from 30.42 ± 2.12 Mg ha−1 under Q. pyrenaica to 13.25 ± 2.15 Mg ha−1 under Q. rotundifolia across the soil profile. A similar pattern was observed for soil nitrogen, with total N values reaching up to 2.28 ± 0.17 g kg−1 under Q. pyrenaica, compared to approximately 0.52 ± 0.05 g kg−1 under Q. rotundifolia. Most of the soil carbon and nitrogen was associated with the sand fraction. These results suggest that the dynamics of soil carbon and nitrogen in Mediterranean silvopastoral systems are primarily driven by vegetation type and soil depth, whereas grazing under extensive management conditions has a limited influence on SOC stocks and their distribution among soil fractions.
Disintermediation is often presented as a means of improving producer welfare by “cutting out the middleman” and allowing producers and buyers to transact directly. However, from the perspective of transaction cost economics, information asymmetry, and market-access theory, removing intermediaries does not eliminate the functions they perform; rather, it reallocates search, verification, liquidity, risk-bearing, aggregation, and enforcement costs to other actors or infrastructures, often producers. This theory-informed qualitative case study examines a state-convened alpaca-fiber business roundtable held in Arequipa, Peru, where 17 producer associations from seven high-Andean regions met with 5 buyer firms in a structured direct-contact format. Drawing on observational field notes, analytic debriefings, thematic coding, and event documents, the study analyzes how disintermediation shaped bargaining power between alpaca-fiber producers and buyers. Findings show that the roundtable reduced buyer search costs and generated public reference prices above some traditional intermediary offers, but did not substantially redistribute bargaining power to producers. Instead, formerly intermediary functions reappeared as producer-side obligations organized through buyer-defined standards, sample comparability, laboratory verification, certification, minimum-volume requirements, delayed payment, logistics, and weak post-event enforceability. These dynamics were especially consequential in a pastoralist fiber economy where product value depends on technical grading, trusted classification, aggregation capacity, and culturally situated forms of exchange. The study argues that improving producer outcomes requires more than simply direct contact, but producer-centered transaction infrastructures, including independent sampling and testing, transparent price records, enforceable purchase-intention mechanisms, stronger producer coalitions, and digital or face-to-face intermediation designed around Indigenous data sovereignty and the practical knowledge, values, and way of life of traditional alpaca pastoralism.
Pastoralism supports over 60% of Somalia’s population, with camels being vital for economic resilience. However, intensifying droughts pose severe threats. This study addresses the gap in species-specific data by identifying geographic and socio-demographic drivers of household-level camel mortality in Somalia. Using the 2020 Somalia Demographic and Health Survey, we analyzed 5,925 camel-owning households. The outcome was self-reported camel death due to drought within the preceding 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression identified independent predictors, controlling for socio-demographic, economic, and environmental confounders. Overall drought-related camel mortality was 45.91%. Geographic location was the dominant predictor; compared to Awdal, risk was highest in Sool (AOR = 7.74; 95% CI 5.76–10.41, p < 0.001), Nugaal (AOR = 4.12; 95% CI 2.93–5.80, p < 0.001), and Sanaag (AOR = 4.07; 95% CI 3.02–5.49, p < 0.001). Nomadic households faced significantly higher odds of loss than urban households (AOR = 2.87; 95% CI 2.29–3.60, p < 0.001). Additionally, susceptibility increased with the age of the household head, particularly for those over 54 years (AOR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.31–1.92, p < 0.001). Wealth index and household head sex were not statistically significant in the adjusted model. Camel mortality is driven by systemic and geographic vulnerabilities rather than individual economic status, highlighting the failure of traditional coping mechanisms against community-wide shocks. Resilience strategies must shift from reactive aid to proactive measures, including culturally adapted Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI), community-based recovery systems like camel leasing, and strengthened market infrastructure.
Pastoralist communities in the Horn of Africa face intensifying health and livelihood challenges driven by climate change, infectious disease outbreaks, and conflict. One Health (OH) has gained prominence as a holistic approach capable of addressing these interconnected socioecological risks. Yet gendered OH research in pastoral settings has narrowly focused on zoonotic disease. As a result, little is known about how pastoralist men and women themselves conceptualize OH–what aspects are most important and how they understand the relationships between them. To address this gap, we aimed to generated locally grounded, gendered understandings of OH to inform more equitable and effective OH policy and practice. We employed a mixed methods approach that combined fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) with grounded theory qualitative analysis. We conducted 15 small-group mapping sessions with pastoralist men and women across one village and five kraals in Turkana County, Kenya. Maps were aggregated by gender and analyzed using network metrics, while mapping transcripts were analyzed using the One Health Coding Paradigm–applied for the first time to gender analysis. Women’s maps had more components and connections, while men and women shared the same top ten most central components in their maps. These included human and livestock health, nutrition, access to services and natural resources. Within shared components, women emphasized drought, workload, nutrition, and education, while men emphasized veterinary service delivery tradeoffs, income, and conflict. We found gendered roles, institutional access, and power relations shaped how men and women conceptualized OH in distinct ways. Women understood OH through embodied labor and care, while men had a governance and risk perspective. Women also demonstrated less knowledge of zoonotic diseases due to their exclusion from formal and customary decision-making and governance spaces. We argue that care-based OH represents a paradigm shift capable of expanding OH beyond its biomedical focus, and that gender is not only an equity concern but a fundamental analytical entry point for more effective and equitable OH policy and practice in pastoral drylands.
This article analyses how agro-pastoral communities perceive, adapt to, and address the effects of variable weather through a case study of regicides occurring during drought in South Sudan. Recently, South Sudan has been regarded as one of the African countries most severely affected by climate change. This global climate-change discourse has shaped narratives among policymakers and the media. Over the past decade, several communities in the ‘hills and mountains agro-ecological zones’ have experienced incidents in which villagers expelled or killed rain chiefs accused of deliberately stopping the rain. While the South Sudanese government and media attribute the droughts leading to these events to climate change, this view contrasts sharply with local perspectives. This article investigates two recent cases of rain chief killings among the Lopit, focusing on locally constructed beliefs about the relationship between nature and humans, as well as internal social conflicts. For the Lopit, rain is the central symbol connecting local religion and politics. Rain chiefs, believed to control weather within and during their reign, are responsible for ensuring rainfall according to their agricultural calendar, which is essential for community wellbeing and livestock health. They also serve as intermediaries between humans and the divine, helping people maintain and restore relationships with the divine. However, in this region of variable weather, rain represents both authority and risk. Drought not only causes conflict between communities and rain chiefs but also exposes underlying social tensions. This article contends that the straightforward link between drought and climate change requires reconsideration and highlights the importance of examining the morality of regicides.
The green transition–the global response to the climate and biodiversity crises–is generating demand for land to implement renewable-energy and carbon-sequestration projects. Rangelands have been attractive to investors because of their large extent, their high potential for wind and solar energy and for carbon sequestration and storage, and the perception that they are currently misused and easily available. In theory, green-transition projects could benefit pastoralists, but many projects alienate pastoralists’ land, undermine their rights, and weaken their livelihoods. A few projects have been implemented in ways that respect or strengthen pastoralist rights, engage pastoralist communities in meaningful consultation, and ensure equitable benefit sharing. These experiences demonstrate that pastoralists are not inevitable victims of the green transition and do not need to be excluded from green transition opportunities. A just green transition depends on upholding pastoralist rights, enabling their effective participation, and ensuring equitable allocation of benefits.
Shrubby and wooded rangelands are highly heterogeneous environments that require adaptive grazing management. In the Mediterranean basin, their use is increasingly challenged by climate change, land abandonment, and the erosion of intergenerational knowledge. This study examined how small-ruminant farmers structure their decision-making about rangeland use, depending on their reliance on them to feed the flock. We conducted 18 semi-structured interviews in Ardèche and Hérault (France), covering diverse farm types and levels of reliance on pastoral resources. Discourse analysis identified four objects shaping decision-making for all farmers: landscape units, vegetation, pastoral resources, and animal behaviour. The farms were categorized in three groups (P−, P, P+) on the basis of the integration of rangelands into the feeding system, ranging from input-dependent feeding systems aimed at the stability of intake and animal performance, to systems relying heavily on rangelands and aimed at self-sufficiency, accepting variations in animal performance. The three types of farms were associated with contrasted decision-making systems, ranging from simplified and reactive approaches based on a limited set of measurable indicators (e.g., resource availability, animal performance), to more integrative and anticipatory strategies combining multiple indicators such as vegetation dynamics, resource diversity and animal behaviour. This study provides a structured way to analyse how farmers mobilise knowledge and indicators in their decision-making, and helps identify how additional information may complement farmers’ decision-making in a context-specific manner.
Pastoralism is both a way of life, and a livelihood strategy for millions of people around the world and for more than four million people in Ethiopia. Better understanding of pastoralist routes allows improved delivery of services, contributing to sustainable development, and poverty reduction. Livestock routes and resource mapping was conducted from December 2019 to December 2022 using participatory mapping approaches in key pastoral areas of the Somali region and Oromia region in southern Ethiopia. In total, 96 livestock routes, 14 livestock markets, 49 animal health posts, 44 human health posts, and 142 livestock watering and salt lick points were identified and mapped by participants in the study areas. Just under 10% (n = 9) of mapped livestock routes were non-functional at the time of mapping because of poor provision of services and lack of security along the routes, limiting access to grazing resources and precipitating over-grazing in accessible rangelands. Mapping, servicing, and protecting livestock routes and resources in pastoralist areas is vital for delivering development activities tailored to the pastoral community. This research provides essential information on the location and status of livestock routes and resources for the government and other stakeholders, and the methods presented can be applied to serve other pastoralist systems.
Livestock marketing plays a vital role in Ethiopia’s economy, especially in pastoral regions such as South Omo, where it supports livelihoods, income generation, and market integration. This study examined stakeholder coordination, broker dynamics, market information access, and governance in four districts (Benatsemay, Dasenech, Nyangatom, and Hamer) using qualitative methods, including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and market observations. The findings indicate that, although informal institutional arrangements, such as steering committees and role definitions, are in place, their practical effectiveness is constrained by weak coordination, fragmented communication, and inconsistent implementation. This situation appears to create governance gaps within which brokers play a central but dual role. While they facilitate transactions by linking buyers and sellers, their influence, reinforced by limited market information and weak regulatory oversight, enables them to shape price formation and information flows. Access to reliable and timely market information was found to be limited, with pastoralists largely relying on informal sources and intermediaries. This contributes to information asymmetry, which may weaken their bargaining position and affect market outcomes. The livestock marketing system is further characterized by a multi-layered and partly informal structure, with a significant proportion of transactions occurring outside formal market settings. Overall, the findings suggest that market inefficiencies are associated with the interaction of weak coordination, information asymmetry, and informality, rather than the absence of institutional frameworks. Strengthening the implementation of existing coordination mechanisms, improving regulatory enforcement, and enhancing access to reliable market information are critical areas for improving pastoral market participation and outcomes.
Sheep farming in Iran has a long and significant history, and the country is widely recognised as one of the centres of sheep domestication. However, the structure and practices of sheep farming have undergone substantial changes over the past two decades, the underlying drivers of which have not yet been systematically examined. Therefore, this study investigates the major challenges facing the Iranian sheep industry and proposes strategic solutions to promote its sustainable development. To address these issues, this study employed the Delphi method to collect and synthesise expert perspectives in order to identify key areas requiring intervention and improvement. The findings highlight the need to strengthen rangeland management practices, implement genetic improvement programmes to enhance livestock resilience, and provide greater educational and technical support to farmers. The proposed policy framework emphasises the establishment of cooperatives to empower farmers through collective resource management, knowledge sharing, and improved market access. In addition, it advocates for supportive policies focused on the sustainable management of pasture and forage resources and the expansion of targeted training programmes for sheep farmers. These strategies aim to enhance the resilience, productivity, and long-term viability of the Iranian sheep sector, enabling it to adapt effectively to contemporary environmental, economic, and social challenges. Moreover, the proposed framework could serve as a reference model for other regions experiencing similar livestock management constraints, underscoring the value of shared learning and collaborative approaches to sustainable agricultural development. By comprehensively addressing structural and operational challenges, this study contributes to strengthening the sustainability of the Iranian sheep industry while supporting national food security and rural livelihoods.
Oxpeckers (Buphagus spp.) are obligate avian mutualists that feed on ectoparasites of large mammals, including cattle. Despite their ecological significance, few studies have examined local perceptions of oxpeckers in communal pastoral systems where chemical tick control is prevalent. This study assessed livestock farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with oxpeckers in the Salambala Conservancy, northeastern Namibia, where Red-billed Oxpeckers and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers co-occur with managed cattle herds. Structured interviews were conducted with 200 randomly selected farmers. The respondent perceived oxpecker impact (positive or negative) on cattle farming was evaluated using scores from six impact responses. Data analyses were conducted to determine the association of predictor variables (participant socio-demographics, knowledge, attitude and perceptions) with perceived oxpecker impact using descriptive, random forest and linear modelling, univariate and multivariable statistics. Awareness of oxpeckers was high (99.5%). Tick control was practiced by 78% of farmers, primarily using synthetic pyrethroids and organophosphates (52%), while some farmers applied traditional practices (20.5%), or did not control at all (21.5%). Positive oxpecker perceptions predominated (79.5%), mainly linked to tick removal, although 29% reported negative impacts such as wound aggravation and blood-feeding. The final multivariable analysis revealed that respondents who applied oxpecker control measures had significantly lower impact scores (more negative oxpecker attitude) compared to those who did not (p < 0.0001). Conversely, respondents who wished for increasing oxpecker populations had significantly higher impact scores (more positive oxpecker attitude, p = 0.029). Suggestions to increase oxpecker populations were through conservation programs and captive breeding (29% respondents) and re-introduction of oxpeckers from other areas (19.5%). These findings highlight the importance of integrating ecological knowledge with socio-economic realities to promote coexistence. Strengthening integrated tick management approaches that reduce chemical control and keep ticks to acceptable numbers can enhance community-based conservation initiatives, which are critical for sustaining oxpecker-livestock interactions.
This study explores the lived experiences of herders in Adamawa State, Nigeria, who participated in peacebuilding interventions implemented by Catholic Relief Services in response to recurrent farmer-herder conflict. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the research centers herders’ voices to examine how they interpret, negotiate, and internalize peacebuilding efforts within their socio-cultural and relational contexts. Data were collected through focus group discussions across Shelleng and Yola South Local Government Areas. Findings indicate that herders perceive peacebuilding not merely as the cessation of violence, but as an ongoing process of restoring dignity, gaining social recognition, and reducing the fear of exclusion. Participants emphasized community dialogues, symbolic inclusion by local leaders, and the rebuilding of intergroup trust as crucial indicators of meaningful peace. Importantly, these narratives reveal how pastoralists challenge dominant, sedentary-oriented intervention models by redefining peace as relational and embedded in everyday agrarian life. By foregrounding the agency of a historically marginalized group, this study contributes to pastoralism and peacebuilding scholarship, underscoring the need for development strategies attuned to the realities of mobile pastoralist communities and the power relations that shape their inclusion and exclusion.
Based on 81 household interview data collected from Honggor Gol Town, Abaga Banner, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, this study systematically analyzes four core contradictions in the practice of property rights in desert rangeland pastoral areas: rangeland right certification contradictions, rangeland tenure contradictions, property rights dispute resolution contradictions, and contradictions between ecological policies and property rights implementation. By refining the operational guidelines of T-B’s “Hoof and Leg Theory” and “Four-Point Balance” model, combined with cost-benefit analysis, this study proposes an optimization path of “collaborative right certification, standardized tenure allocation, professional mediation, and differentiated ecological policies.” Responding to Ostrom’s common-pool resource governance theory and context dependence theory, this research fills the gap in micro-level studies on property rights practice in ecologically sensitive desert rangeland areas, providing empirical evidence and theoretical support for the improvement of rangeland property rights systems in pastoral areas.
In a changing world, large carnivores are making a significant comeback in Europe. Despite this success for conservation and ecosystem functioning, the coexistence of humans with such species is a challenge for societies worldwide. One of the main conflicts is attacks on livestock by wolves and brown bears. To protect livestock, practices are recommended that have been used successfully in countries where large carnivores have never become extinct. Sheep and goats are the most vulnerable livestock species to large carnivore attacks. In Austria, they are particularly at risk on alpine pastures, where they tend to graze unattended and unprotected. In this study, we developed an algorithm that can predict suitable prevention measures against large carnivore attacks on sheep and goats for each individual alpine pasture in the Austrian Alps. The prevention measures considered are electric fencing and shepherding with herding dogs, livestock guard dogs and night pens. We show that all sheep and goats on the Austrian alpine pastures can be protected by these measures, but this includes moving some of the animals to other pastures. This algorithm was validated by field visits to 22 alpine pastures. These results show firstly that damage prevention is possible in Austria, even on alpine pastures. However, these results are based solely on technical feasibility, such as terrain, land cover and capacity, rather than operational and institutional feasibility, such as labour, agreements, acceptance and costs. These results also show that it will require major changes, because these measures are costly and, perhaps more importantly, will break with some local traditions, because some of the sheep and goats will have to be moved to other alpine pastures. Public support must therefore include not only subsidies for the prevention measures themselves, but also technical and logistical support to make this change feasible.
This introductory paper outlines the aim and tasks of the special issue “Reindeer herding research: Crossing disciplinary and regional borders of biology and social science”. After presenting the content of the special issue, the article illustrates the importance of overcoming political and disciplinary borders by focusing on one aspect of Soviet/Russian reindeer-herding research which is little discussed in the other contributions to the issue: zootechnics. In particular, reindeer zootechnics include functional types, herd structure, pasturing techniques, slaughter strategy, and productivity indicators. Attention is paid to tracing how this research was received, deliberated, and utilized in Fennoscandia, and to its role in developing the so-called Røros Model. It is demonstrated that Soviet reindeer-related research as perceived in Fennoscandia can best be understood as a (partial) traveling model. Similarly, it can be suggested that Fennoscandian experiments with fenced herding were perceived by Soviet specialists in a similar manner. Finally, it is shown how expert scientists gradually came to acknowledge reindeer herders’ own knowledge, thus shifting from “recommendation” mode towards more mutual knowledge exchange.
Rinderpest eradication is often presented as a landmark in veterinary public health; less systematically examined are its medium- and long-term implications for pastoral systems that rely on mobility and collective rangeland use. This narrative review synthesises historical and contemporary evidence on (i) how rinderpest shocks interacted with pastoral livelihoods during the African pandemic and subsequent outbreaks, and (ii) how eradication-era approaches to surveillance, vaccination logistics and field delivery shaped later models for controlling transboundary animal diseases. It is argued that the same features underpinning pastoral resilience–mobility, flexible herd management, and social networks–may also increase disease exposure and hinder sustained access to veterinary services, particularly where service delivery models remain campaign-centred and externally financed. Although the eradication of rinderpest produced substantial welfare gains, these benefits were uneven and were often limited by the ongoing burden of other infectious diseases (e.g., peste des petits ruminants, foot-and-mouth disease) and by under-resourced routine animal health systems. Lessons for current eradication initiatives can be drawn: credible surveillance needs to be embedded within locally legitimate institutions; vaccination strategies should be aligned with seasonal mobility and market networks; and enabling environments for Community Animal Health Workers are essential to sustain coverage beyond time-limited programmes. These insights help reposition rinderpest eradication as both a success story and a cautionary case for designing equitable, durable animal health services in pastoral settings following a One Health approach.
