NOMADIC HERDING

NOMADIC HERDING An extensive form of animal grazing on natural pasturage, entailing constant or seasonal migration of the nomads alongwith their flocks, nomadic herding is confined to sparsely populated parts of the world \yhere the natural vegetation is mainly grass and the rainfall is low ilnd seasonal. It is practised by the Fulani of the West African” savannas, the Masai in East Africa and the Nuba in Ethiopia and Sudan, and by the Bantu and Hottentots in Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa. The Bedouin of Saudi Arabia, and the Tuareg of the Sahara practise nomadic,heeding in the desert and semi-desert areas of South-West . ‘Asi'(anq North Africa. In Scandinavia, the Lapps, who were onte:Oomadic, are tending to settle down.

Cattle are the most important livestock in most of the tropical areas of Africa, though in drier ilreas they may be replaced by goats. The long-haired angora goats of the Anatolian Plateau of Turkey are known for their valuable wool. In desert areas, the camel is important as. a source of wool and milk, but it is used mainly as a drought animal. In the Steppes of Central Asia, sheep and horses are very important. In mountainous regions such as Tibet, yak is more important. In the Andes of South America, llamas provide high quality wool. For the Lapps and the Samoyeds of Arctic and sub-Arctic areas in Scandinavia and northern Russia, reindeer provide food, hides, milk and transport.
Transhumance resembles nomadic herding as it too involves the seasonal movement of animals in search of pasture; it is of a permanent nature, and a more intensive method of livestock farming. In mountain areas such as Norway, Switzerland, Italy, in parts of Britain and in the mountainous west of the USA and Canada, cattle or sheep of a ranch may be kept in the valleys in winter, and taken out to the mountain pastures or alps’ or sa etas in spring.