Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger

In this paper, we develop an empirical model of an agro-pastoral system subject to high climatic risk to test the impact of rainfall variability on livestock densities, land allocation patterns and herd mobility observed at the community level. Also, because grazing land is a common-pool resource, w...

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Autores principales: McCarthy, Nancy, Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2002
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155649
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author McCarthy, Nancy
Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul
author_browse McCarthy, Nancy
Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul
author_facet McCarthy, Nancy
Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul
author_sort McCarthy, Nancy
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In this paper, we develop an empirical model of an agro-pastoral system subject to high climatic risk to test the impact of rainfall variability on livestock densities, land allocation patterns and herd mobility observed at the community level. Also, because grazing land is a common-pool resource, we determine the impact of cooperation on these decision variables. To capture different abilities of communities to manage these externalities, we construct indices comprised of factors considered to affect the costliness of achieving successful cooperation found in the collective action literature. We then test hypotheses regarding the impact of rainfall variability and cooperation using data collected in a semi-arid region of Niger. Results indicate that rainfall variability first leads to higher and then lower stock densities, indicating that benefits of accumulating large herds in variable environments are eventually offset by the higher risks of low production and higher mortality. Communities with characteristics hypothesized to favor cooperation have lower stock densities and greater herd mobility. Neither cooperation nor rainfall variability has a significant impact on the proportion of land allocated to crops vs. common pastures.
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spelling CGSpace1556492025-01-10T06:42:36Z Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger McCarthy, Nancy Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul agropastoral systems climatic factors climate stocking density land policies land use livestock management grazing land rights commons cooperation decision making semi-arid zones multiple use In this paper, we develop an empirical model of an agro-pastoral system subject to high climatic risk to test the impact of rainfall variability on livestock densities, land allocation patterns and herd mobility observed at the community level. Also, because grazing land is a common-pool resource, we determine the impact of cooperation on these decision variables. To capture different abilities of communities to manage these externalities, we construct indices comprised of factors considered to affect the costliness of achieving successful cooperation found in the collective action literature. We then test hypotheses regarding the impact of rainfall variability and cooperation using data collected in a semi-arid region of Niger. Results indicate that rainfall variability first leads to higher and then lower stock densities, indicating that benefits of accumulating large herds in variable environments are eventually offset by the higher risks of low production and higher mortality. Communities with characteristics hypothesized to favor cooperation have lower stock densities and greater herd mobility. Neither cooperation nor rainfall variability has a significant impact on the proportion of land allocated to crops vs. common pastures. 2002 2024-10-24T12:42:23Z 2024-10-24T12:42:23Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155649 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute McCarthy, Nancy; Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul. 2002. Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger. CAPRi working paper 0024. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155649
spellingShingle agropastoral systems
climatic factors
climate
stocking density
land policies
land use
livestock management
grazing land rights
commons
cooperation
decision making
semi-arid zones
multiple use
McCarthy, Nancy
Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul
Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger
title Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger
title_full Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger
title_fullStr Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger
title_full_unstemmed Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger
title_short Climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management: a case study from Niger
title_sort climatic variability and cooperation in rangeland management a case study from niger
topic agropastoral systems
climatic factors
climate
stocking density
land policies
land use
livestock management
grazing land rights
commons
cooperation
decision making
semi-arid zones
multiple use
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155649
work_keys_str_mv AT mccarthynancy climaticvariabilityandcooperationinrangelandmanagementacasestudyfromniger
AT vanderlindenjeanpaul climaticvariabilityandcooperationinrangelandmanagementacasestudyfromniger