ABSTRACT

pastoral communities live in the midst of the natural resources upon which they depend directly for their livelihood, with a very narrow margin of survival. They use water and grass to feed livestock; trees for medicine, food, and firewood; and wildlife to supplement their diet. When pastoralists are nomadic, environmental stress (even if extreme) is generally short lived because people and their livestock move elsewhere, allowing resources to recover. The constant challenge of coping with nature creates a depth of alignment in a community’s customs and habits of daily life.