Complex mosaic resource tenure in pastoral systems

Pastoral resource governance systems tend not to conform to the assumptions and principles of mainstream theories on property rights and governance of commons. This is often explained by the concept of open-property regimes, which holds that the typical features of dryland pastoralism – limited and highly variable rainfall, low resource density, mobility, and institutions and norms that emphasise flexibility and access – can result in herders dynamically redistributing themselves across a territory without the benefit of clear boundaries or collective decision-making and rules.

The paper “Open property and complex mosaics variants in tenure regimes across pastoralist social-ecological systems” by Lance Robinson, published in 2019 in International Journal of the Commons 13 (1): 804–826, argues that some pastoral systems are neither conventional commons nor open-property regimes. Instead they reflect a complex mosaic regime, where there is a gradation of strength and clarity of exclusionary property rights over different resources. Property rights are often allocated to different actors and governance mechanisms, and social processes and governance mechanisms other than property rights institutions play a prominent role. Social and biophysical characteristics that may lead to such complex mosaic regimes include a severe and chronic shortage of one or more critical resources, spatial heterogeneity of resources, scalar heterogeneity of interests, and a herd mobility pattern that involves occasional convergence in key resource areas.

The paper helps explain some of the differences among pastoral systems in terms of resource governance. Several examples come from Eastern Africa, including the Borana in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Posted on 1 March 2020 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure