A new zone was added to the existing Livestock Early Warning System (LEWS), which is a subproject of the USAID Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program. LEWS uses the PHYGROW model and satellite imagery of weather and vegetation to estimate the availability of forage to livestock and wildlife. Drought advisories are then distributed to governments, development organizations, and pastoralists via the Internet, satellite radios, and written reports. The Laikipia zone was established in 2001 to provide drought early warning for the arid pastoral rangelands of the Ewaso Ngiro ecosystem in the Laikipia and southern Samburu Districts, Kenya. Field verification of PHYGROW estimates of standing crop was conducted in 2002. In addition, research was conducted to determine the ability of the warning system to provide significant advance notice of emerging drought conditions. Results of this study indicate that LEWS is capable of providing accurate estimates of forage availability on East African rangelands. There is also evidence that the use of LEWS advisories could accelerate drought response by pastoralists as much as three to seven weeks.

Magister Legum - LLM

This study was conducted to understand the occurrence, diversity and epidemiology of tickborne diseases (TBDs) in a transhumant pastoral area of Karamoja Region, Uganda. We used participatory epidemiology (PE), involving focus group discussions (n = 24) with livestock keepers, 30 key informant interviews, review of previous surveillance data, clinical examinations, and laboratory confirmation of cases of TBDs, to define and prioritise cattle diseases, evaluate current control activities, and identify constraints to the control of TBDs. The livestock keepers regarded TBDs, particularly East Coast fever (ECF) and anaplasmosis, as the most important health problems in their cattle, based on morbidity and mortality rates, rates of transmission, treatment costs, difficulty in accessing the correct treatment, difficulty to control, and inadequate knowledge to manage the diseases. The main constraints to the control of TBDs were inadequate knowledge, inadequate veterinary services and limited availability of drugs. Hand picking of ticks was done by all pastoralists while hand spraying was done with under-strength acaricides, often at irregular intervals and with little acaricide wash. We determined the endemic status of TBDs in 20 randomly-selected cattle herds by estimating the proportion of annual ECF and anaplasmosis cases in different age groups of cattle using participatory approaches and clinical examinations, determining the diversity and abundance of ticks (161 cattle in 20 herds), and establishing the seroprevalence of antibodies to Theileria parva and Anaplasma marginale among cattle (n = 397 in 20 herds). Clinical examinations and informant interviews showed that TBDs affected all age groups of cattle. Two-thirds of the cattle were infested with moderate (37.3%, 11-50 ticks) to abundant (28.6%, > 50 ticks) numbers of ticks. Out of the 10,923 ticks collected, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (54.4%) was the most abundant species followed by R. decoloratus (17.7%), Amblyomma variegatum (12%) and A. lepidum (11.6%). We collected tick species that are either rare in Uganda (A. lepidum, Hyalomma truncatum, A. gemma) or were not known to be present in the country (R. pulchellus). The true seroprevalence of antibodies to A. marginale was high (95.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 91.3% - 98.5%), while that of T. parva was low (16.5%, 95% CI 12.9% - 19.6%). We determined the presence of tick-borne haemoparasites among cattle and the prevalence of infections using reverse line blot (RLB) hybridisation and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and characterised Theileria and Babesia species by sequence and phylogenetic analyses of the full-length 18S rRNA gene. The RLB hybridisation assay demonstrated the presence of tick-borne haemoparasites in most cattle (99.6%), mostly as mixed infections (97.5%). The most frequently-detected species were Theileria mutans (88.3%, 95% CI: 84.6-92.1%), A. marginale (73.8%: 68.3-79.2%), T. velifera (71.3%: 65.8-76.7%) and Anaplasma sp. Omatjenne (63.3%: 57.5-68.8%). Other virulent pathogens, namely Babesia bigemina (5.0%) and T. parva (2.9%), were also detected with RLB, but Ehrlichia ruminantium was not detected. The proportions of qPCR positive samples were 82.9% (A. marginale), 12.1% (A. centrale), 3.3% (T. parva), and 1.7% (E. ruminantium). Variations (5 to 9 nucleotides) in the 18S rRNA gene sequences of B. bigemina were identified as compared with previously published sequences. We assessed the 16S rRNA gene phylogeny of Anaplasma species from cattle and analysed the msp1α gene sequences of A. marginale to identify genotypes. There was genetic heterogeneity within A. marginale in cattle in the study area. Most A. marginale sequences (16/19) were closely related (99- 100% identities) and clustered with A. marginale strain Veld from cattle in South Africa, with strong bootstrap support, while three sequences clustered (100% identity) with A. marginale strain from Virginia, USA. The A. centrale sequences were closely related (100% identity) and clustered with the Israel vaccine strain. We found four different kinds of MSP1a tandem repeat sequences (UP39-F-M2-3) that correspond to one A. marginale strain unique to Uganda. One tandem repeat (UP39) was unique to Karamoja cattle. The findings from this study provide knowledge on the diversity and epidemiology of TBDs, which can be used to support diagnosis and strategic control of TBDs, and consequently improve cattle productivity and the livelihoods of pastoralists. More effective control and prevention measures against ticks and TBDs should urgently be implemented in the region. There is need to facilitate and promote immunisation of cattle against ECF. Given the scarcity of veterinarians in the region, the activities of community-based animal health workers [CAHWs] should be strengthened. The local governments in Karamoja Region should facilitate a more favourable business environment to attract private companies, who could scale-up veterinary drug supplies to the region. Pastoralists should be sensitised to improve their ecological knowledge of the seasonal activity of ticks for strategic tick control. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Agricultural Technology and Agribusiness Advisory Services (ATAAS) / The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) of Uganda / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / PhD / Unrestricted

This study applies a qualitative approach in examining the stakeholder perspectives on the causes and impacts of, and responses to, the farmer-pastoralist conflicts. The study is primarily a response to the broader stakeholder concerns surrounding the farmer-pastoralist conflicts in the Kilosa district of Tanzania. The interdisciplinary approach and, more importantly, the environmental security and political ecology theories, were used for conflict analysis in a bid to determine the gaps in the existing body of the literature. Specifically, the study aimed at determining: first, the causes of the conflicts in question driven by the growing concern around the increasing land conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in the district; second, the impacts of the conflicts and respective implications to the causes and conflict management mechanisms; third, the relevance of the conflict management mechanisms in place. The study adopted a case study design drawing from a range of qualitative methods involving semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis for collecting and analysing the stakeholder perspectives obtained from the field. The study then reveals that farmer-pastoralist conflicts in Kilosa district are mainly grounded in the broader domestic and external socio-political forces. The escalation into violence, however, depends mostly on resource scarcity driven by climate change manifesting as drought. In this regard, the lone environmental scarcity-conflict nexus is found to be less significant in causing farmer-pastoralist conflicts in Kilosa, a finding underpinning the political ecology’s structural influence. The study finds that the use of multistakeholder bricolage institutions is more relevant for addressing these conflicts in Kilosa district. / Commonwealth Scholarship Commission

Many early anthropological studies treated pastoralist populations as egalitarian, however there is considerable variation in the resources available to individual households. This thesis considers how resources influence the subsistence system of the pastoral Datoga of Lake Eyasi. The two categories of resources considered are wealth and labour. The labour available to Datoga households does not influence the herding strategies of those households. In turn, the herding strategies do not affect the dynamics of cattle herds. This is because households that are short of labour can arrange for their animals to be herded by members of different households, and there are no discernible costs associated with this. Wealth, defined by livestock holdings, can be measured either as total household wealth, or as wealth per capita. These are conceptually distinct. Among the Datoga, households that are wealthy in terms of total livestock holdings, are also wealthy in terms of wealth per capita, but not proportionally more so. Once households have about five livestock units per capita, any increase in household wealth is used to attract new people to the household, rather than to increase the wealth of existing household members. For many aspects of the production system overall household wealth and wealth per capita have a similar effect, but this is not always the case. In some instances overall household wealth can explain variation between households, whereas wealth per capita cannot. This occurs when the absolute number of animals belonging to a household is important. In terms of provisioning the household and household economics, per capita wealth explains more of the variation between households. Overall the Datoga are struggling to survive. They have been alienated from more fertile areas, and consequently they are poor, and herd productivity is low. This is due to the low reproduction rate of cattle, and the high commercial offtake rate of both cattle and small stock. The high commercial offtake rate is driven by subsistence needs and most income is used to buy grain and veterinary products. However, there is considerable variation between households, and compared to poor households, wealthy households have a comparatively low offtake rate of livestock, in terms of both mortality and sales. Consequently, they are managing to retain their livestock holdings, or in a few cases to increase the size of their herds. However, wealthy households are in the minority, and the majority of households are caught in a declining cycle of poverty, and will eventually be forced to drop out of the pastoral system.

The purpose of the study was to assess the coverage and effectiveness of the management of severe acute malnutrition project implemented in Dhas district of Borena zone, Ethiopia, from July 2010 to December 2010. Quantitative, descriptive study was conducted to assess the comparability of the outcome of community-based management of acute malnutrition in a pastoralist area to International Sphere standards using performance indicators. Data collection was done using data capturing sheet. Outpatient therapeutic programme (OPT) registers in all health facilities were the sources of data. Clinical records of children admitted to the programme (n=163) were analysed. Standard nutrition survey result was used to estimate the malnutrition prevalence and programme coverage. International Sphere standard was achieved for mortality rate but not for recovery rate, defaulter rate, length of stay and weight gain / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

The recent history of the Turkana of northern Kenya has rarely been explored in detail, a fact that corresponds with, and to a large extent facilitates, their regular portrayal in the popular press as passive, unchanging and therefore vulnerable in the face of ongoing and ensuing socio-economic transformations. Such visions of the Turkana and the region in which they live have, via their manifestation in the policies and practices of development-orientated interventions, actively inhibited (although never fully arrested) the fulfilment of various local desires and aspirations over the years. In addressing these topics, this thesis provides some hitherto largely unexplored and unrecognised historical context to the many socio-economic and political issues surrounding Turkana's ongoing development. It discusses interdisciplinary research which combined archaeological and ethnographic techniques and was undertaken amongst communities engaged in the most prominent livelihoods that have historically underlain the Turkana pastoral economy: fishing (akichem), cultivation (akitare), herding (akiyok) and raiding (aremor). In doing so, it draws attention to some of the ways in which these communities have actively and dynamically negotiated broad economic, environmental and political transformations over the last century and beyond, thereby providing a picture of social change and long-term continuity that might serve as a means for a more critical assessment of regional development over the coming years. By weaving together a series of historical narratives that emerge from a consideration of the changing production, use and exchange of material culture, the thesis builds an understanding of Turkana's history that diverges from more standard, implicitly accepted notions of recent change in such regions of the world that envisage globalisation purely as a process of convergence or homogenisation. Its central argument, which it demonstrates using various examples, is that seemingly disruptive transformations in daily practices, social institutions, livelihoods and systems of livelihood interaction can be envisaged as articulations of longer-term continuities, emerging from a set of durable yet open-ended dispositions within Turkana society and culture. Moreover, rather than being built on a stable, passive repertoire of cultural knowledge, the thesis shows that this capacity for change is established upon a dynamic generative process where value systems and institutions are reconfigured to the same extent as daily practices and skills, as knowledge is continually reconstituted and recast in relation to the shifting constraints and possibilities of daily life. It thus characterises this process as a form of resilience that is deeply rooted in and determinant of the Turkana pastoral economy.

The purpose of the study was to assess the coverage and effectiveness of the management of severe acute malnutrition project implemented in Dhas district of Borena zone, Ethiopia, from July 2010 to December 2010. Quantitative, descriptive study was conducted to assess the comparability of the outcome of community-based management of acute malnutrition in a pastoralist area to International Sphere standards using performance indicators. Data collection was done using data capturing sheet. Outpatient therapeutic programme (OPT) registers in all health facilities were the sources of data. Clinical records of children admitted to the programme (n=163) were analysed. Standard nutrition survey result was used to estimate the malnutrition prevalence and programme coverage. International Sphere standard was achieved for mortality rate but not for recovery rate, defaulter rate, length of stay and weight gain / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

In response to recent decentralization in Ethiopia, we investigated the status of and pressure exerted on Awash National Park (ANP), vis-a- vis Park resources, observed land use and land cover changes, causes of park-related conflicts, use and management role of stakeholders at federal, regional and local level and the impact of policy on sustainable resources conservation through a comparative framework of before (pre-1995) and after decentralization (post-1995). We used a combination of two black and white aerial photographs of 1975 and 1986, a satellite image of 2006, field observation, information from local communities and Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate the land use and land cover profile. We selected a total of 210 respondents by stratified random sampling, and group discussion participants and key informants using the purposive sampling technique. Direct observed participation of stakeholders, household questionnaire, and interview with key informants and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Our results showed a declining scattered bushland by a rate of 20.61km2 per year between 1972 and 1986. On the other hand, Shrub encroachment increased by 32.2 % between 1972 and 1986 and by 10.3 % (77.4 km2) during the entire study period. Grassland was the largest cover type in the area between 1986 and 2006 and expanded by 14.2 % (106.4 km2) between 1972 and 1986. The majority of respondents highlighted that the most important drivers of the observed LULC changes pre-1995 were the combined effects of the land reform policy and changes in Park boundary (size of the Park). Population growth was reported to be the main driving factor for LULC change pre-and post-1995. The continuing existence of the area as a national Park receives unreserved support from most pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. From the data we conclude that overall, decentralization in Ethiopia was not effective in terms of improving the status of Awash National Park. We recommend action should be taken in terms of reducing human and livestock pressure and to prevent and solve interest-based conflicts between stakeholder / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Sciences)

The Narungga are the Aboriginal people of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. This thesis explores cross-cultural encounters and relations between the Narungga and Europeans in the nineteenth century. Contemporary Narungga people, hoping to learn about the lives of their forebears, instigated this research. The Narungga have not previously been the focus of serious historical or anthropological investigation. This thesis therefore fills a significant gap in the historiography. This thesis seeks to re-imagine the past in a way which is empathetic and realistic to Narungga people who lived in the nineteenth century. To understand the impact of the arrival and permanent settlement of Europeans upon the lives of the Narungga, it is necessary to look closely at the cultural systems which orientated and encompassed both the Narungga and the newcomers. The two groups impacted on and shaped the lives of the other and neither can be looked at in isolation. This work has been inspired by the writings of historical anthropologists and ethno-historians. The findings of anthropologists, linguists, geographers, botanists and archaeologists are drawn upon. First hand accounts which provide graphic and immediate depictions of events have been closely analysed. The primary sources that have been examined include local and Adelaide newspapers, official correspondence between settlers, police, the Protector of Aborigines, the Governor and the Colonial Secretary, and private letters, diaries, paintings, photographs and sketches. The archives continuously reveal great injustices committed against the Narungga, and this thesis does not seek to minimize the brutality of ‘white’ settlement nor the devastating outcomes of British colonialism on the Narungga. But the records also reveal the majority of Narungga people living in the nineteenth century were not helpless victims being pushed around by autocratic pastoralists or disengaged bureaucrats. On Yorke Peninsula in the nineteenth century, the future was unknown; the Narungga were largely able to maintain their autonomy while Europeans were often in a vulnerable and dependent position. The Narungga were active agents who adapted to and incorporated the new circumstances as they were able and as they saw fit. Rather than living in a closed or static society, the Narungga readily accommodated and even welcomed the Europeans, with their strange customs and exotic animals, plants and goods. The Narungga responded to the presence of Europeans in a way which made sense to them and which was in keeping with their customs and beliefs. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1339729 / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2008