Socio-economic determinants of small ruminant pastoralists

Dr. Pranav Kumar

Sher-e-Kashmir University of AgriculturalSciences and Technology of Jammu

Pastoralism

In the Indian context, pastoralists can be defined as "members of caste or ethnic groups with a strong traditional association with livestock-keeping, where a substantial proportion of the group derive over 50% of household consumption from livestock products or their sale, and where over 90% of animal’s feed & fodder is from natural pasture or browse, and where households are responsible for the full cycle of livestock breeding."

Pastoralism in the Indian Himalayas

Pastoralism in the Himalayas is based on transhumant practices and involves cyclical movements from lowlands to highlands to take advantage of seasonally available pastures at different elevation in the Himalayas (Bhasin 1988).

During the summer, when the snow melts in the higher alpine regions, Himalayan pastoralists move up to these areas to graze their animals. After the monsoon they move down to occupy the low altitude pasture for the winter months.

Movement of people and their livestock proceeds between previously earmarked sites, which become more or less regular seasonal bases.

Migratory pastoralism is common throughout the Himalayas and, from west to east, some of the herding communities in the region include the goat and sheep herding Gujjars & Bakrawals of Jammu and Kashmir

Pastoralism in Western India

The area that is bordered by the Aravalli hills in the west and the Indo-Pakistan border in the east is known as the Thar Desert; receiving average annual rainfall ranging from 100-600 mm, it is subject to frequent droughts, and therefore, pastoralism traditionally represented the predominant land use strategy.

In this region pastoralism can be a market-oriented strategy by landless people specialized in the production of animals and animal products for sale; but it can also be a subsistence and drought adaptation strategy by people who own land.

The majority of them are connected with particular livestock species by their myth of origin, tracing their descent to an ancestor who was created by God for the purpose of taking care of these animals.

For instance, the Raika/Rebari are linked to the camel, the Charan in Gujarat are associated with cattle, and the Bharvad keep mostly small stock.

Size, Location, Ethnic Identities and Migration Pattern of the Major Pastoralist Groups

“more than 200 tribes, comprising 6 per cent of the country’s population, are engaged in pastoralism” (Khurana, 1999)

no reliable statistics available on the number of “active pastoralists”. Since Independence, population censuses no longer collect data based on caste adherence; besides, not all members of pastoral castes are actually engaged in livestock keeping.

Only a small proportion of young people from pastoral backgrounds have the opportunity or interest to become livestock herders whereas others are engaged mainly in unskilled labour in cities.

Indian pastoralists can be divided into groups that practice horizontal movement patterns in the dryland regions and vertical movement patterns in the mountainous areas.

Classification of Major Types of Indian Pastoralists A) Himalayan Region

Nomadic Herders Van Gujjars of Uttranchal and Himachal Pradesh and Changpas in

Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir migrate from one pasture to another with their whole families. They do not cultivate land and their entire livelihood revolves around pastoral activities. They mostly depend on their neighbouring agricultural communities for cultivable goods for which they perform extensive economic exchange with them.

Semi-Nomadic Pastoralists Gaddis and Bhotias of North-western Himalayas seasonally migrate to higher pastures with their animals. These nomadic groups own cultivable land and during half of the year are involved in agricultural activities. Bhuttias living in the Lachen and Lachung valleys of Sikkim and Monpas of Arunachal Pradesh are also included in this category.

Long-distance or Transhumant Herders Village pastoralists practice long-distance herding of livestock and are

considered to be transhumant herders. Transhumance is a grazing strategy "… in which the livestock is generally accompanied by hired men but also by owners and their relatives, but rarely by a whole family, on a long migration or transit between two seasonal ranges" (Rinschede, 1987).

Classification of Major Types of Indian Pastoralists

B) Western Region

Urban Pastoralism: Urban pastoralism refers to the keeping of buffaloes and cattle in and at the

periphery of large cities (Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Jodhpur) for milk production with market-purchased fodder. Certain pastoral castes, especially the Bharwads of Gujarat, engage in this strategy.

Village-based Pastoralism: Village-based pastoralism (sedentary to semi-sedentary, depending on

rainfalls) is the type of pastoralism usually practiced by owners of small to medium sized sheep herds, by goat owners and by also by some camel pastoralists, for instance in Pali District of Rajasthan. Herds usually return to the village for the night, although they may stay away for several days.

Long-distance Group Migration: Long-distance migration (for 9 months of the year) is undertaken mostly by

owners of large sheep herds, but also by some owners of large camel herds.

Permanent Migration:

Permanent migration is a local term used to refer to pastoralists who no longer return with their herds to the villages. This situation is reported for Raika sheep breeders from Pali District in Rajasthan. Some of their family members stay permanently with the sheep herds in Madhya Pradesh.

LIVESTOCK ECONOMY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

Livestock is an essential part of the socioeconomic structure of rural India as a source of livelihood and provider of draught power, manure and energy.

Over the last three decades livestock production grew faster than crop sector as a whole and made significant contribution to agricultural growth, which is considered to be an important factor in poverty reduction in most developing countries (Birthal et al, 2006)

Jammu & Kashmir, a north-western hill state of India, has varied agro-climatic conditions across various regions and based upon this diversity/geographical locations, the state has been divided into three distinct regions, viz. Kashmir region (temperate), Ladakh region (cold arid), and Jammu region (sub-tropical). Each region provides suitable production environment to the particular crop-livestock mix, based upon its setting.

The Social Context of Pastoralism

Small ruminants (sheep and goats) are a major component of the pastoral population’s household economy in India. They are kept for both tangible (cash income, milk, meat and home consumption) and intangible (savings, insurance against emergencies, cultural and ceremonial purposes) benefits (Verbeek 2007).

The current population of small ruminants in India is estimated to be 124.36 million goats and 61.47 million sheep with an annual growth rate of 3.10 and 3.87 respectively (Livestock Census 2007, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fishery, GoI).

The cattle population, especially of sheep and goats has decreased in Jammu and Kashmir. The rapid decline in livestock populations can be attributed to a combination of factors including the political instability in the region, shift towards sedentarisation of the nomads, drought, land use change and Competition for water and forage among others.

J&K’s Livestock Population 1950-2011

.The cattle population, especially of sheep and goats animals, has decreased in Jammu and Kashmir.

The rapid decline in livestock populations can be attributed to a combination of factors including the Political instability in the region, shift towards sedentarisation of the nomads, drought, land use change and competition for water and forage among others.

J&K’s Livestock Population trend

Nineties was the base line from where the livestock population keep declining due to disturbed conditions in the state of Jammu and Kashmir

In the year 1951 the total livestock population of Jammu Kashmir was 32.19 lakhs, in the year 1977 it increased up to 46.58 lakhs

In the year 2002, it increased to 39.5 lakhs. Again it declined to 32.93 lakhs in 2007. Where as in 2011 it reached up to 34 lakhs in the state.

In the year 1951 the total livestock population of Jammu Kashmir was 32.19 lakhs, in the year 1977 it increased up to 46.58 lakhs

Socio - economic determinants of the Gujjars and Bakarwals community

The coming slides compares the changes in socio economic characteristics of Gujjars and Bakarwals as per the field work report 2011 and Khatana Study of 1984.

An attempt has also been made to examine the dwindling share of livestock economy in the total income of the community.

Other socio economic characteristics like cropping pattern, workforce participation rates and contribution of livestock economy of the Gujjars and Bakarwals are also used as parameters for socio economic determinants.

Socio economic determinants of pastoralists Educational Level Workforce Composition Workforce Structure Occupational Mobility Land Resources : Average size of the landholding

Percentage share of the Land size Cropping Pattern Livestock size : Average Size of Livestock per Family

Sources of the Income : Pattern of income distribution Income from the Flock Products

Income from the Supplementary Sources

Income variations

Educational Level among Gujjars and Bakarwals

among the Bakarwals population majority of 79.3 percent workers are illiterate, 77 percent males and 90 females are illiterate respectively.

In the Gujjars community 70.8 percent are illiterate, the males and the females are 67.2 percent and 86.9 percent respectively.

Workforce Composition among Gujjars and Bakarwals

60.3 percent of the Gujjars and 33.2 percent of the Bakarwals workers are cultivators.

Live stock occupation is one of the major occupation .

In the agricultural labourers category 5.8 percent of the Gujjars and 2.2 percent of the Bakarwals are engaged.

Agriculture and Livestock are the only two major sectors of the Gujjars and Bakarwals.

Gurjjar & Bakarwals Community

Workforce Structure of pastoralists Livestock accounts 35.2

percent of the main work force while agriculture share is 32 percent.

A high percentage of the main workers are concentrated in the livestock sector.

Labour and service sector contributes 23.5 and 6 percent of the workers.

Occupational Mobility Nowadays the economy of the

Gujjars and Bakarwals is not fully dependent on the livestock as it was before the start of militancy in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

the percentage of livestock economy at the time of Khatana study (1984) was 52 percent and it came down to 21 percent only in 2011 study.

In the agriculture sector 26 percent of the families were engaged in the 1984 and in the later period 43.0 percent were in the agriculture sector.

In the government jobs sector in

the 2011, the share has increased i.e. 10.8 percent in comparison to 3.8 percent of the Khatana Study.

Reasons behind the occupational shift

After leaving the livestock economy, now pastoralists are shifted to government jobs, agriculture and various kinds of labour works

main reason behind the occupation shift in the pre 1990 and post 1990 period is hostile condition in the state of Jammu and Kashmir from last two decades.

50.8 percent of the families left the transhumance practice due to the militancy in the state, which effected their seasonal movement.

17 percent of the respondents think that sufficient pastures are not available to graze their animals in the summer areas.

Modernization impact also left its influence on the Gujjar and Bakarwal community, 22.3 percent of the households thinks that due to the children’s education many of the communities start settling in the winter areas and adopted other occupations.

Another 10 percent labeled other factors behind the intergenerational mobility.

Land Resources Traditionally, the Gujjar and

Bakarwals society is known for having common ownership of land rather than individual ownership.

But of late there has been change in the ownership patterns of land in the tribal societies

as the laws of the country does not recognize any community ownership of land but individual ownership of the land.

There have been a lot of

anomalies when the individual land rights were granted to tribal peoples.

Average size of the landholding The socio economically

advanced people among them took full advantage of ignorance of their tribal fellowmen and manipulated the land ownership rights in their names.

This led to the concentration of the vast land in the hands of few tribal households of the Gujjars and Bakarwals.

the average size of the landholding increases from 1.82 ha in the Khatana’s study to 3.9 ha among the sample population

many of the families purchased land during the last few years and are shifting towards sedentarisation

.

Percentage share of the Land size

The households owning 2-4 acres of land accounts 40.5 percent of the total households.

about 60 percent of the households having less than 4 acres of land. Only 40 percent of the households having more than 4 acres of the land

The Majority of the land holdings of the Gujjars and Bakarwals in Jammu and Kashmir is marginal below 2 acres

7 percent of the households who are reported to be landless

Cropping Pattern majority of cultivated land is

devoted to the maize cultivation (71 percent) which is a staple diet of these nomads and a careless crop too.

It implies that maize is one of the single dominant crop in the Jammu and Kashmir.

Wheat occupies the second (12 percent) important crop of the Gujjars and Bakarwals.

While 6.3 percent of the land is cultivated for rice.

About 5.7 % of land is devoted for fodder crops

Livestock Economy

In a transhumant society of the Gujjars and Bakarwals, the flock is major source of production and forms large portion of the total income.

The people of this community, in addition to the flock of sheep and goats also own other animals like horses, mules, bovines and oxen.

Buffalo number has increased from last few years due to sedentarisation of pastoralists , sale of the milk is the major source of income for them.

large animal and small animal / family

As ownership of the sheep and goats concerned, sheep is being a renewable source of wool is mostly preferred over the goats.

Share of both small and big animals per family has declined since 1984

Livestock size 3.8 % population

in the Khatana’s study had 251-300 herd size where as only 1 percent of the households has this size of the herd size in 2011 sample survey

Larger herd size have declined among the Gujjars and Bakarwals.

Average Size of Livestock per Family & Engagement of the shepherds The average size of the livestock in

2011 study sample was 32 whereas the Khatana study research (1984) had 82 , so it is quite clear that livestock number declined significantly.

Rich or maldar Gujjars and Bakarwals who have large herds of cattle’s use shepherds on the contract bases.

In the surveyed households, in the Khatana study the shepherds help was taken to control the animals.

63 percent of the families have the shepherds in 1984. Whereas it came down to only 22 percent in the sample survey of 2011.

So here it can be concluded that the size of herds declined from the past few years, so there is no such necessity for the shepherds.

Sources of Income & pattern of income distribution Income of pastoral community is derived

from flock, land and supplementary sources in the gross income.

Contribution of flocks was 75.46 percent in the total income of the households in the Khatana’s study while the share came down to 41.5 percent among the sample households in 2011.

The land resource contributes 8.24 percent in the Khatana’s study while it goes up in the sample population i.e. 36 percent.

Supplementary sources contribute 16.3 percent in the Khatana’s study while it moves up to 22.5 percent among the sample households

flocks contribution in the total income declined with over a period of time and income from land resources income goes up.

Income from the Flock Products

Income from the sale of animals contributes as much as 80.6 percent of the total flock income; its share is highest among all the sources.

The second highest source of income is from milk 9.5 percent. While the share of the wool products is 7.26 percent.

On the Gross income source wise from the flock products, we can see that income from the wool products came down while from milk and milk products goes up.

Income from the Supplementary Sources

It is observed that the supplementary income in aggregate contributes 22.5 percent of its share.

The share of the supplementary sources of income also goes up during the last two decades.

In the earlier times Gujjars and Bakarwals were fully transhumants and the larger share of the income comes from the flocks.

But now many of them left the seasonal migration and shifted towards other occupations,

the share in the tourism increases from 11.4 percent in the Khatana’s study to 33.5 percent in the present time.

Nowadays, many of the nomads during the summer months are working in the Amarnath Yatra and other tourism related activities in the Valley of Kashmir.

Collection from the Forests Gujjars and Bakarwals households are invariably

dependent on the forests for their one need or the other.

Forest collection goes down to 14 percent from 33.2 percent in the Khatana time.

Income variations

Income variation is one of the main features of the occupational mobility among the Gujjars and Bakarwals families.

Income in the Pre 1990 period was too low among the Gujjars and Bakarwals where as significant jump is found in the income in the post nineties period.

36.2 percent of the families have below Rs 1000 monthly income in the pre 1990 period in comparison to it 13 percent families having this income in the post 1990 period.

Summary of socio economic determinants of pastoralists

The economy of the Gujjars and Bakarwals of the Sample Population (2011) was compared with the Khatana’s study of 1984.

Earlier their major chunk of income comes from livestock but now their sources of income has shifted towards other sources like land resources, labour works, tourism, business, govt. jobs etc.

The land size also increased among the sample population. Herd size declined significantly in the selected sample of the

Gujjars and Bakarwals. Economy of the Gujjars and Bakarwals from the past few

years has shifted from the livestock economy to other occupations.

The reasons may be militancy in the Jammu and Kashmir, impact of urbanisation, modernisation etc.

Major Problems Experienced by Pastoralists

The problems that pastoralists face are as much social and political as economic and resource-based.

Himalayan Region

While the government has included the Himalayan pastoral groups, with the exception of the Uttranchal Gujjars, in a reserved category for government jobs and other facilities, Himalayan pastoralists are finding it difficult in many ways to follow their traditional livelihoods.

The immediate threats like…. Government attitudes to Pastoralism

In social evolutionary thinking, the nomadic lifestyle has traditionally been treated as less civilized, less productive and more degrading than a settled lifestyle. This cultural bias is clearly manifested in many of the colonial/historical documents, and seems to have many policy level implications for the Himalayan pastoralists. Pastoralists continue to be treated as a problem for administrators in terms of collecting taxes or controlling the population.

Non-Recognition of Pastoral Land Rights:

The local pastoral groups regard themselves as owners of the pasture resources in Himalayas and there is an extensive customary usage of these resources by the local pastoralists.

Population Growth and Land Fragmentation

As a result of growing human population in the Himalayan region, land resources per household are decreasing, with sub-division and fragmentation of agricultural land.

Major problems contd…..

Livelihood Threats:

Reduced Pastures: Across all the Himalayan states, the pastoral livelihoods are seriously threatened by the

problem of shrunken pasturage. This decreasing availability of pasture resources has been due to misinformed

conservation policies of these states, as discussed and illustrated above, and encroachment on the pasture

resources.

Disturbed Migratory Routes:

The migratory graziers in Himalayas travel long distances from low to high altitudes. On their way to summer or

winter grazing lands, they halt at common lands of various villages, which is important for animal forage and

their social relations with the agricultural communities. The Himalayan states have gone through dramatic

development in the last few decades and besides infrastructure development these states have seen

tremendous tourism development, extensive road building, hydro power plants, hotels etc. across the length

and breadth of the Himalayas. As a result, pastoralists frequently have had to alter their migratory routes and

face problems of livestock being killed on roads, thefts and a constant pressure to move. There are instances

where animals die of eating noxious weeds growing close to the roads or on degraded land.

Sedentarization Sedentarization of pastoralists is now widespread, both because of active government policies and because of

lack of support for migratory pastoralism. The Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchalhave

tried many times to settle their local nomadic communities, although this is against the very logic of migratory

pastoralism in Himalayas.

Policies for pastoralistsThe first policy responses should be to: Discontinuance of any policies which are designed

solely to end pastoralist mobility: under a range of environmental and institutional conditions, mobility is a rational strategy that maximizes welfare and minimizes negative impacts on the environment

Exploration of alternatives for human service delivery to mobile pastoralists and strengthening pastoralism as a productive system in a number of ways:

strengthening local natural resource management promoting conflict resolution mechanisms introducing well-designed grazing fee regimes drought management policies zoning of rangelands

Sedentarisation of Pastoralists: Policy Pressures and Policy Options

Sedentarisation of nomadic and transhumant pastoralists can take place for a number of overlapping reasons:

Explicit government policy to settle pastoralists because mobile pastoralism per se is perceived as "primitive" or as a problem (for the environment, service delivery, taxation, law and order and national security). In some cases this has involved settlement of pastoralists on new irrigated schemes.

Inappropriate land tenure policies and insecurity that inhibit mobility

Pastoralists voluntarily settling to get easier access to government services, wage employment

Destitute pastoralists settling quasi-voluntarily to get access to relief food (often on a long term basis), food-for-work etc.

Pastoralists settling in sub-humid areas made available for year round settlement by the control of human or animal diseases

Pastoralists settling pre-emptively in areas where available land is rapidly being claimed.

Mobile schools to boost literacy of pastoralists

The absence of education for their children is a major problem. The Jammu and Kashmir Government has come up with the novel scheme

Nomadic women can breathe easier now as the mobile schools take care of the basic education of their children .

More and more children are attending these seasonal schools. The number of children outside schools has fallen from 3.76 lakh in 2002-03 to 68,051 in 2007-08

Institutions, which speak for / Represent the Interests of Major Pastoralist Groups

Grassroots-level pastoral organizations or associations provide a path to empower pastoralists.

There are quite a few government and non-government institutions, which represent the concerns of pastoralists in the Himalayan states.

Government Institutions

Departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Environment and Forests, and Revenue jointly implement various development programmes for the Himalayan pastoralists:

Animal Husbandry departments are functional in all the Himalayan states, as separate or subsidiary units of Departments of Agriculture. These departments are essentially involved in livestock development programmes, but their major focus is on settled farmers.

Revenue and Forest Departments are responsible for the pasture development in the Himalayan states.

Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs)/Institutions

Leh Nutritional Project (LNP): Leh Nutrition Project is based at Leh in Ladakh of Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation is working amongst the Changpa nomads of Rupshu plains for their integrated rural development, which includes the predominant issue of health and education

Society for Advancement of Village Economy (SAVE): Society for the Advancement of Village Economy is based in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh and they are trying to fight for the pasture rights of displaced local Gaddi pastorals after the notification has been issued for the Great Himalayan National Park.

Rural Litigation and Employment Kendra (RLEK): Rural Litigation and Employment Kendra (RLEK), is working for the land rights of Gujjar pastorals in Rajaji National Park, Uttaranchal. They are also running programmes for education and employment generation initiative amongst this pastoral population.

Center for Science and Environment (CSE): CSE is an environmental organisation and has been conducting applied research and also publishing papers on the myth of Himalayan pastoralism and environmental degradation

Western Region (NGOs)/Institutions

Bher Palak Sangh This is a federation of shepherd societies (353 societies) composed of nearly 10,000 households from semi-arid western districts of Rajasthan which is chaired by Bhopalaram Raika

Pashu Palak Mitr :Pashu Palak Mitr (literally “friend of the animal breeder”) is a monthly newspaper that has been serving as a communication tool for Raika/Rebari throughout India, for the last five years. It currently has 1570 subscribers/members in 14 states. It has been successful in making some of the problems faced by pastoralists known to the (state) government

Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPSS) ; This is a registered voluntary society (NGO) with the specific objective of improving pastoral livelihoods through advocacy, facilitation and support projects. It developed out of research with camel pastoralists and has a strong base among camel breeders of the Godwar area. Its activities consist of camel health services, training of pastoralists in use of modern medicines, research and documentation on ethnoveterinary medicine, support for camel milk marketing, camel breed improvement, income generation for women, exposure tours etc.

Marag or Maldhari Rural Action Group :Maldhari Action Group is an NGO in Gujarat that seeks to “create greater levels of awareness among the Maldharis, to organise them into different groups and to introduce specific development programmes within these community-based structures”. Its activities focus on formal and informal educational activities, group building for developmental activities, animal husbandry and pastureland development (with a focus on better management of natural resources) and upgrading skills of Maldhari women in their traditional crafts.

LIFE (Local Livestock For Empowerment of Rural People), an initiative for endogenous livestock development and community based management of animal genetic resources.

ANTHRA, an NGO of female veterinarians that works with Kuruba shepherds in Karnataka.

SEVA (is working with a variety of pastoral groups in southern India, incl. Toda and Vembur sheep breeders, encouraging community-based conservation of their indigenous breeds; is part of the LIFE initiative, and might be in a position to provide information on South Indian pastoralism.

 

Acknowledgement BHASIN, VEENA (1988) Himalayan Ecology:

Transhumance and Social Organization of Gaddis in Himachal Pradesh. Kamal Raj Enterprise, New Delhi.

Khatana, Ram Parsad, Transhumance Economy of the Gujjars and Bakarwals, Unpublished thesis submitted to the Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Sharma, Vijay Paul, Ilse Köhler-Rollefson and John Morton. Pastoralism in India: A Scoping Study. Jointly carried out by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad (India) and the League for Pastoral Peoples, Germany.

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