The Borana plateau of southern Ethiopia: Synthesis of pastoral research, development and change, 1980-91

This document is divided in eight chapters. The first chapter reviews rangelands and rangeland development in Ethiopia. The second chapter is an introduction to the Borana Plateau with ref. to natural resources and pastoral society. It reviews secondary information on geology and sociology, as well as original information on climate, soils, wildlife, plant ecology and water resources for the central Borana Plateau. Chapter three deals with vegetation dynamics and resource use. It reviews ecological site classification and mapping of the central Borana Plateau and aspects of environmental change induced by pastoral land use. The fourth chapter reviews aspects of Borana household composition and economy as they pertain to average rainfall years during the 1980s. Related topics include labour allocation, livestock marketing, milk processing, dairy marketing and cultivation. Chapter five highlights work from experimental trials and producer surveys concerning livestock management and productivity in the Borana system. Chapter six reviews the impacts of the 1983-84 drought on the Borana production system and outlines key tactics that households used in response to drought. Development intervention concepts is the topic of chapter 7. The last chapter summarises key ideas from previous chapters into a concise development strategy for the southern rangelands.