Identity & Current Status of
Nomadic / Sedentary Pastoral
Tribes
Presented by
MARAG
(Maldhari Rural Action Group)
PASTORALISM
Pastoralists are people who owe indigenous herd.
A community whose main source of livelihood are
livestock rearing as a culture and in a traditional
way with indigenous knowledge & skills. It also
includes those who have been forced out of
Pastoralism owing to wrong policies and
development model.
Living a nomadic life . . .
Migration
Migration
Political
Pre Colonial
Colonial
• Had high important as
breeder
• Social,economical &
physical exploitation
started in some kingdom
• Close to decision
makers due to their
indigenous knowledge
and skills
Lost importance
•Exploitation &
ignorance at
height
• Lost interest in
governance
Post Independence
• No where in the
political picture
• Not a “worthy”
community for a
politician
• State atrocity very
high
• Out of political or
co-operative
movement
Economical (cont.)
Issue
• Health
Pre-Colonial
• Healthy cattle, at times,
• Poor health of cattle
mass deaths due to
due to lack of water &
unknown illnesses
fodder
• Transfer of • Women & Men Had
good indigenous
knowledge
knowledge and skills
• Marketing
Post-Independence
• Milk and other produces
were not sold
• Only excess produces to
• No transfer of
indigenous knowledge
• Increased sale of row
milk
Economical
Issue
• Herd-size
Pre-Colonial
Post-Independence
• More than 100 cows, camels •15 –25 animals
• Livestock
pattern
• Cow>Camel>Goat>Sheep>
Buffalo
• Grazing
practices
• Social norms for grazing
(when, where, how)
• Good and sufficient grazing
land
• Breeding
practices
•Sheep>Goat>Buffalo
>Cow>Camel
• No access and control
over CPRs
• Degraded and
declining grazing land.
•Legal Land grabbing
• focused on cross
• Janada system
• Selection of breed, exchange breeds, loss of
indigenous breeds
of bull
Pastoralism Vs Capitalism
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Living together
Unity
Interdependence
Common Property
Sharing of Knowledge and
resources
High Ethical values
Customary Institutions
Gender equity
sustainable
Concept of conservation
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Nuclear living
Highly competitive
Dependency/ independent
Centralization of property
Copy -Pattern rights,
• Lack of ethical and moral
values
• Very strong Patriarchy
• Exploitative life style
• Just Consume
Major problems experienced by the
Pastoralists
• Non-recognition of Pastoral land rights & Pastoralism
-No grazing policy - largest live-stock in the world
• Incorrect classification of land use by government
• Identity crisis (Ration, electoral card, birth certificate, own
village
• Livelihood threats
- Reduced Pastures
- Enclosure of migratory routes
- Forests enclosure
- Expansion of irrigated agriculture, green revolution
- Breakdown of self governance
• Forced Sedentary life.
• Atrocity against pastoralist (criminal, illegal grazer, antisocial).
Major Problems (Cont.)
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No access to Govt. services
“Non useful” animals
Lack of support for input and output market
Lack of linkages with outside world and access to
information
• Urban Pastoralists face severe difficulties as they
and their settlement are considered a hurdle in
the development of urban areas
Pastorlists coming together
Pastoral in action
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Pastoral Parliament/ PPM
Jay Maldhari/Pastoral pride
Land right movement
Joining hand with other marginalized
Policy research-advocacy
Strengthening customary institution
Direct action to reclaim grazing lands
Socio-Cultural (Cont.)
Pre Colonial
Colonial
Post Independence
• Dignity of life
• Strong ethical
values
• Women were part
of decision making
process in customary
institution
• Traditional Jewelry
and clothes showed
the richness of
culture
 Lost confidence
 Degradation of
values
 Women
excluded from the
formal structure
• Lost dignity
• Losing ethical values
•Women left out of
most decision making
processes
• Traditional practices
left behind with
modernization
Socio-Cultural
Pre Colonial
• Interdependent
• social status
• Very strong value
based customary
leadership (men and
women)
• Tradition to support
others
Colonial
• beginning of
dependence
• Declining social
status
• Decline of
customary
institution
Post Independence
• Dependent on others
• Lower/No social
status
• Weakening
customary institution,
plays very limited
role only in sociocultural aspect