A1 Journal article (refereed)
Current Social and Rangeland Access Trends among Pastoralists in the Western Algerian Steppe (2021)

Bencherif, S., Dahmani, M. B., Burgas, D., & Manzano, P. (2021). Current Social and Rangeland Access Trends among Pastoralists in the Western Algerian Steppe. Land, 10(7), Article 674. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070674

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Bencherif, Slimane; Dahmani, Mohamed Boumedienne; Burgas, Daniel; Manzano, Pablo

Journal or series: Land

eISSN: 2073-445X

Publication year: 2021

Publication date: 26/06/2021

Volume: 10

Issue number: 7

Article number: 674

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070674

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/77383

Abstract

In the western Algerian steppe, the public authorities have carried out actions aimed at rural development (agricultural development programs) and combating desertification (grazing reserves) to counter the significant and rapid loss of vegetation cover of pastures by overgrazing, and the consequent impacts on local livelihoods. In the Rogassa area, these actions have impacted land tenure and the ancestral and collective way of land use and access. These changes have caused transformations in lifestyle and pasture management. This research aims to characterize how such changes are affecting local pastoralists and what their perceptions are about them. A selective sampling of 150 agropastoral households was carried out by interviewing their heads, analyzing socioeconomic, land tenure and government perception variables. Most agropastoralists access land under tribal tenure, conditioned by local social structures. Pastures are prevailingly perceived by pastoralists as insufficient, and the perception of grazing reserves is largely negative. Pastoralists are worried about land degradation and declining grazing lands, and are looking for solutions and alternatives. However, state interventions have been uncoordinated and have not considered their customary land rights. The generalized awareness of environmental deterioration points to the need for better communication and intervention strategies to be developed by authorities in the future that involve the inhabitants of these lands.

Keywords: nomads; nomadism; nomadic cultures; pastures; land use; land ownership; common land; desertification; development programmes

Free keywords: rangeland access; land degradation; agropastoralists; land tenure; pastoral society; livelihood transformation; development programs; Algeria

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2021

JUFO rating: 1