What do pastoralists produced from livestock

Information was gathered primarily through in-depth interviews with nomad men and women and field observations. Four periods of six to seven days of fieldwork were conducted within Baft region.

Each interview lasted approximately three hours and consisted of about 50 predetermined questions. A structured questionnaire was completed for each individual family of settlement heads, including family composition and labour allocation structure, herd structure and management, housing, stocking rate, nutrition, feeding, watering, health, veterinary treatment, breeding, transportation, management practices, slaughtering, processing and reproduction.

The responses to those questions were tallied, and the percentages of the various responses were calculated. Compared with conventional and organic systems Table 2 , nomadic sheep and goat production was characterized by natural breeding of locally adapted native breeds, extensive use of rangeland as a source of livestock feed, no use of prophylaxis, minimal allopathical treatments, protection of the environment, improved animal welfare and sustainable animal husbandry practices.

Curtailing freedom of movement, sensory deprivation and unsocial ways of husbandry; not allowing any contact with animals of the same species; or forcing too close a contact were not permitted in the nomadic farming system. They were integral to their respective eco-systems and provided a host of environmental services. Taking droughts and hunger in their stride and acting as insurance, these breeds walk for miles in harsh terrain and seek out scattered, spiky, fibrous plants that survive in areas where crops could never be grown.

In organic farming, the breeding of small ruminants should be done by natural mating. Artificial insemination is allowed, but not embryo transfer, oestrus synchronization, etc. In the nomadic system, animal breeding was only by natural mating, and techniques such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and oestrus synchronization were not popular among nomads.

As industrial modes of livestock production are spreading, domestic animal diversity is in rapid decline. According to FAO, one third of all livestock breeds have either perished or are threatened with extinction, due to intensive selection for high production by means of artificial insemination and embryo transfer and spreading of a small number of genetically narrow high-performance breeds around the whole world.

Management of livestock among nomads was a social process, and they did their utmost for the wellbeing of their animal and to avoid animal cruelty of any kind. In the nomadic system, there were no tail ducking, dehorning and tethering Table 3. In organic systems, castration of male stock is allowed so as to keep traditional animal husbandry practices. In the nomadic areas, breeding management was difficult in mixed flocks of male and female animals, without male castration.

All nomad livestock owners castrated the male kids and lambs at a very young age. The surgical technique of cutting the scrotum open with a knife and pulling the testicles was the common method of castration among nomads. They castrated their animals during the cool months of the spring and autumn, to reduce the chances of infection being spread by flies and other insects.

In organic farming, ruminants have to be kept in groups to meet their social needs; however, it is not defined how social needs can be fulfilled in farm conditions. Contrarily, nomads had well-defined social methods for keeping livestock under farming conditions.

Furthermore, families staying and keeping their livestock together allowed nomads to herd adult and young animals separately as the social needs and feed requirements of different aninal age groups differ and require particular management practices. The kidding period at the beginning of winter was at a season of lower temperatures and lower feed availability. Hence, animals were supplemented with limited amount of barley, and to avoid losses, at the end of autumn, most nomads migrated to warmer areas in the southern provinces adjacent to the Persian Gulf.

As a result of natural breeding and the high proportion of males to females in the nomadic flock, male breeding stock was kept and grazed separately during the breeding season. Bucks come into rut during the breeding season.

Rut is characterized by a decrease in appetite, obsessive interest in the does and a strong heat. Nomads knew that when strong-smelling bucks are not separated from the does during breeding season, their scent will affect the milk.

In organic farming, male breeding stock has to be kept in the farm. It is permissible to use conventionally-kept male breeding stock. In organic farming, the animals have to be slaughtered in abattoirs which fulfil the regulations of organic farming and are certified Leu Traditionally, the nomads consumed more milk in their diets than meat.

In fact, they often express a dislike for killing and trading animals. Animals were sold to certified abattoirs or butchers directly either for cash needed for income or for culling unwanted livestock. Meat production was almost exclusively for sale.

Home slaughtering for own consumption and sale to neighbours or relatives occurred only occasionally. The proportion of nomads buying animals was very low; the reason was that they usually depend on their existing animals to reproduce and increase their herd size. The transport of livestock is not clearly defined in organic farming, but a stress-reduced loading, transporting and unloading of livestock without the use of allopathic tranquillizer, electrical shockers or similar tools is preferred.

Nomad livestock movements between communal grazing areas in different provinces are gradual, and animals are relocated by migration on foot which may take up to three to five days, depending on the distance covered. Sometimes, trucks were used to transport livestock between grazing areas in different Provinces.

Fifty percent of organic feeds for ruminants can be purchased from other organic farms. The ratio between the high price of feed inputs and lower price of livestock products provides insufficient incentives for the nomads to purchase synthetic chemical inputs for developing intensive production systems. In organic farming, it is not permitted to use anything produced using genetically modified organisms GMOs or derivatives.

This includes feed for livestock. There are permissible minerals, vitamins and pro-vitamins for animal feed, and artificially produced vitamins may not be used for ruminants. In the nomadic traditional feeding management practice, all farms did not use minerals, vitamins, pro-vitamins and GMOs for animal feed, as the cost of such inputs is too high Table 4. In organic farming, a feeding system which leads to anaemic conditions in sheep and goats is prohibited and considered as animal cruelty.

In focus group discussions, nomad herders frequently emphasized that the diversity of plant species consumed was responsible for the superior taste and healthiness of sheep and goat milk and meat. Most of these plants also have medicinal value. The local knowledge of the nomad pastoralist communities sees a connection between the dietary composition of livestock feed and the nutritional value of livestock products. Nomadic sheep and goat breeds were social animals in the true sense, living in a and flock, responding to the voice of their keepers.

By means of such breeds of livestock that are co-evolved with their eco-system, nomads were in a position to use the dispersed and extremely bio-diverse natural vegetation of drylands and mountainous areas into a range of high-value delicious organic food including meat and milk, as well as a range of other organic products such as fibre, fertilizer and hides.

They did this without leaving any carbon footprint, as their animals forage for themselves and no energy is expended to grow or transport feed to them. On many organic farms, kids and lambs receive only colostrum milk and subsequently powdered milk. The young stock does not suckle and receive natural milk because the organic milk is very valuable and expensive Rahmann Even skimmed powdered cow milk can be used as long as it has an organic label.

In the nomadic system there was no early weaning system, contrary to intensive and organic sheep and goat systems of production in which early weaning of lambs and kids is practised and all the milk and milk products are consumed by humans. In all nomad farms, kids and lambs suckled their mothers for 45 days and received only maternal milk Table 4. When young animals were still nursing, the flock returned to the tent at least once each day to allow the young to nurse.

In the nomadic system, as a preventive practice, newborn and young animals were often kept together at the tent with the nomad women and children until they were old enough to go out to pasture with the flock. Animals that were diseased were likewise kept at the family tent, effectively isolated from the flock so chances that infection will spread throughout the flock are thus reduced.

Robust, adapted and disease-tolerant livestock ensure fit and healthy animals. Nomad breeds were considered to fulfil these targets. These were indigenous breeds typical of a specific region, adapted to the local environmental conditions and retaining the pattern for centuries.

Some of the most significant practices include reproduction management, the isolation of diseased animals, grazing and seasonal migration patterns. Nomad herders believed that by herding more than one species, the risk of livestock losses was buffered, whether losses were due to diseases or extreme environmental conditions.

They emphasized that the annual migrations that most Raen nomads undertake as well as the extensive grazing patterns of the herd help to lower the incidence of diseases, including internal parasites. Nomads highlighted that their indigenous technical knowledge and medicinal plants for health care were effective substitutes for allopathic medicines, giving them an advantage in organic livestock production. The indigenous knowledge of nomads may provide an effective option for veterinary care through proper validation, as also the negligible use of agro-chemicals, especially in drylands and hilly nomadic regions provides a favourable environment for organic livestock production.

Nomads knew that infections of the udder can be spread from one animal to another during milking and washed their hands with water between milking animals. Both men and women helped at animal births. Women often explained that they were better than men at this since they have smaller hands, which is good for repositioning the foetus within the birth canal.

Tethering of livestock is prohibited in organic farming. Basically, there was no tethering of any kind of livestock among nomads.

When nomad livestock returned from grazing, adult and young animals were penned separately near the tent in circular-shaped pens made up of wood, fenced overnight and milked in the morning before being taken out for grazing. If grazing is not possible, a permanently accessible open-air run is obligatory. Free-moving stables with permanent access to open-air runs are the principle of ruminant keeping.

Only with permanent summer pasture grazing is an outdoor run not necessary, as long as the animals are not tethered. The nomad livestock were not fed in stables or in restricted areas, but moved and grazed freely in extensive open grazing areas. Nomad families used the northern highland rangelands in spring and summer for grazing and migrated to the warmer southern Persian Gulf provinces in autumn and winter Figures 4 and 5.

The nomadic pastoralists had no fixed homesteads and covered great distances with their livestock following pasture availability throughout the seasons.

The transhumant pastoralists followed a regular seasonal movement between set areas. Their movement was vertical where pastures at high altitudes are used in summer and pastures in the lowlands are used in winter or horizontal in the surroundings. Consequently, the livestock density stocking rate in Baft varied throughout the year, with the highest number of livestock and people in summer. Nomads migrate to warmer areas of southern provinces adjacent to the Persian Gulf in the beginning of autumn.

Map of south Iran showing the spring and winter grazing areas in Kerman Baft region and Hormozgan Roodan region provinces near the Persian Gulf in blue and green colours, respectively. The ideology behind principles and standards of organic animal husbandry is not new to the nomadic farming system of Iran, whose community have practiced animal welfare and animal natural rearing systems since ancient times.

A country rich in indigenous animal genetic resources like Iran is very much suitable for adopting this farming system. Moreover, the nomadic farming system with well-diversified livestock populations in terms of species and breeds is ideal for organic livestock production.

Besides, limited external input use, including for animal production and maximum on-farm reliance brings the nomadic system nearer to organic systems. The nomadic sheep and goat production system being largely extensive, animal welfare is not much compromised compared to intensive or conventional type of animal production. Nomad farmers need to be oriented and educated about the organic standards and how to overcome the risks they might face in adoption of organic livestock standards.

The livestock advisors should be trained and skilled in providing services in livestock management and permitted therapies in organic rearing systems.

Research on the locally adaptable management and disease-preventive measures needs to be emphasized by the government and organic-promoting agencies as well as NGOs.

The potential needs to be recognized of Iranian nomad farmers to meet the requirements of organic livestock product demand, not only locally but also globally in the near future. Organic livestock production can be encouraged through research and development efforts, including establishment of model organic livestock farms, processing units, traceability tools and capacity-building measures. Converting extensive, range-based nomadic system to organic production could become economically attractive, if price premiums could be captured for organic meat and livestock products.

Development of business models will definitely attract commercial interests and ensure that vulnerable nomadic communities receive attractive returns for their untapped treasure of organic principles. Systematic studies need to validate the animal husbandry practices of nomads with respect to organic certification, so that revision or improvement can be made wherever necessary.

In this way, organic livestock products will have considerable potential for high-value niche markets. Ak, I. Organic meat and milk production by pastoralists from small ruminant in Turkey. EAAP publication, No. Ansari-Renani, H. Cashmere production, harvesting, marketing and processing by nomads of Iran - A review.

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Effect of grass or concentrate feeding systems and rate of growth on triglyceride and phospholipid and their fatty acids in the M. Meat Science — Ben Kheder, M. Mediterranean organic agriculture course, organic vegetable production. Bonvillain, Nancy. Cultural Anthropology, 2nd edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Campbell, Shirley F. James Birx, Ember, Carol R. Cultural Anthropology, 13th edition. Gezen, Lisa, and Conrad Kottak. Culture , 2nd edition.

New York: McGraw-Hill, Harris, Marvin and Oran Johnson. Cultural Anthropology, 7th edition. Hutchinson, Pamela Rae. Jones, Kristine L. Anger, Lavenda, Robert H. Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology , 4th edition. Accessed October 9, Rambo, Karl and Paula Brown. Skip to main content. Chapter 7: Economic Organization. Search for:. Pastoralists Pastoralism is a subsistence strategy dependent on the herding of animals, particularly sheep, goats and cattle, although there are pastoralists who herd reindeer, horses, yak, camel, and llamas.

General Characteristics Production is for more than meat and milk. Some animals are used as beasts of burden, while others are used for their fur. Animal products are for both personal use and trade. Pastoralism is characterized by extensive land use. Animals are moved to pasture; fodder is not brought to them.

Generally speaking, pastoralists live in extended families in order to have enough people to take care of all of the duties associated with animal care and other domestic duties. Division of labor is gender based. Most pastoralists are monotheistic but not all of them ; usually the belief is tied closely to their animals.