PASTORALISM - GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

Pastoralist societies face more threats to their way of life now than at any previous time. Population growth; loss of herding lands to priv ate farms, ranches, game parks, and urban areas; increased commoditiza tion of the livestock economy; out-migration by poor pastoralists; and periodic dislocations brought about by drought, famine, and civil war are increasing in pastoralist regions of the world. Mongolia and Chin a, however, have seen a revitalization of pastoral production with dec ollectivization. This review examines problems of pastoral governance and development including the ''tragedy of the commons'' debate, threa ts to common property rights, the effects of commercial ranching on pa storal economies, decollectivization in the former socialist countries . and the current state of development policies of Western donor count ries. Case examples from the Maasai and Barabaig of East Africa and pa storalists of Mongolia and China illustrate these changes.