Many pastoral ecosystems around the globe are under pressure to
produce more livestock or to make way for more intensive agricultural
systems or new uses (Blench 2000). Some rangelands that used to be
managed under communal land tenure are being privatized, with establishment
of individual holdings; others are under state control (Galaty 1994).
This is happening first in rangelands that receive more rainfall, are closer
to urban centres, and/or contain significant key resources that are essential
for successful crop cultivation (Galaty 1994). In these systems, pastoralists
are either pushed onto more marginal lands for grazing or they begin
to take up crop agriculture themselves, becoming agro-pastoralists (e.g.,
Campbell 1993, Campbell et al. 2003). One result is increased permanent
settlement.