Final answer:
Pastoralists are people who subsist on herding domesticated animals, a practice known as animal husbandry. Their way of life includes a nomadic or semi-nomadic existence, with social and cultural practices centered around their livestock. Pastoralists value their herds for resources like food and materials and maintain a sustainable relationship with the environment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Pastoralists and Animal Husbandry
Pastoralists are people who rely on domesticated animal herds as their primary resource for survival. This subsistence strategy is known as animal husbandry, a branch of agriculture concerned with the care and breeding of domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and other livestock. Animal husbandry involves managing and breeding animals to provide resources such as meat, milk, and wool, and utilizing animal products like hides and dung.
Practices and Cultural Aspects of Pastoralism
Pastoralism is heavily associated with nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles where herders move their herds to find fresh pastures and water sources. This mobility is essential due to the typically marginal lands they occupy, which require regular movement to sustain the herds. Socially, pastoralist groups measure wealth and status by the size of their herds, and the animals often play a central role in social customs, relationships, and inheritance.
Challenges of Pastoralist Societies
In the modern world, pastoralist societies face numerous challenges, including environmental changes, restricted movement due to private land ownership, and competition with industrial agriculture. Despite this, pastoralists maintain a reservoir of knowledge about land stewardship and animal care that demonstrates the sustainability of their practices over time.
One example of a pastoralist society is the Maasai of East Africa, who rely on cattle herding for their livelihood and have a culture deeply interconnected with their herding lifestyle.