Livestock mobility and animal health policy in southern Africa: the impact of veterinary cordon fences on pastoralists

Abstract

Greater understanding of how policies are restricting extensive pastoral production is needed, given the importance of livestock mobility to both social and environmental health in drylands. In southern Africa, communal pastoral rangelands continue to be enclosed and dissected by large-scale barrier fences designed to control livestock diseases and protect lucrative livestock export agreements. This paper looks at how these veterinary cordon fences are changing pastoral systems in Botswana, particularly patterns of resource access and livestock mobility. The results show how overall consensus of opinion towards fencing among pastoralists is positive; fences do restrict resource access yet on balance herding demands are reduced and livestock security improved. However, a minority of marginalised groups recognise that fencing restricts risk management strategies and increases competition for key resources, raising concern over more widespread social differentiation and increased vulnerability at the regional level. The paper demonstrates why a closer examination of the trade-offs and consequences associated with animal health policy options in Africa is needed, particularly to determine policy-marketing pathways that allow more flexible and opportunistic resource access within communal pastoral areas.