Ilse Köhler-Rollefson of the League for Pastoral Peoples, and Hanwant Singh Rathore of Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan, completed their yatra, or pilgrimage, through Rajasthan’s prime camel-breeding areas with a parade through the city of Bikaner on 13 February. The yatra highlighted how the decline in camel numbers is affecting people, the economy and ecology in this arid Indian state.

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Learning and Teaching for Transformation is a network hosted by the Participation Group at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), which aims to enhance the capacity of education institutions to develop and deliver effective programmes that contribute to a wider transformation of individuals, institutions and society. The initiative has focused mainly on the context of institutions of higher learning, although the ideas that have emerged have wider implications across the whole education system. Click here for more

The ELDev discussion group enables members to exchange ideas and information on “endogenous livestock development“. This is a people-centred approach that focuses on the development of livestock production, based on livestock keepers’ initiatives, their own worldview, values, knowledge, institutions, and locally available resources, as well as suitable outside resources.

The group started as a discussion group on ethnoveterinary medicine, but has recently expanded to cover broader aspects of people-centred livestock development. The group has over 200 members.

To join the ELDev group, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ELDev/ or send a blank email to ELDev-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Camels are the focus of the January 2005 edition of the New Agriculturist, an online magazine on agricultural development.

Articles cover the decline of camels in Rajasthan in western India, and their rising popularity in Kenya; the health benefits and market potential of camel milk; and the working camels of India and the racing camels of the Gulf.

Several of these articles are based on papers presented at the international conference on Saving the Camel and People’s Livelihoods, held on 23-25 November at Sadri, Rajasthan. This conference was hosted by Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan as part of the LIFE Initiative.

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Ilse Köhler-Rollefson La Revue Durable 12, pp. 28-31, Sept-Oct 2004. Four-page article in French: “It is vital to protect traditional livestock keepers.”

Summary

Source: www.larevuedurable.com/numero-actuel1.html

Depuis la nuit des temps, des sociétés traditionnelles d’éleveurs de bétail et de volaille sélectionnent des variétés d’animaux dans toutes sortes d’environnements dans le monde. Mais la globalisation et l’industrialisation de l’élevage menacent de plus en plus la richesse génétique présente dans les 6000 races d’animaux ainsi sélectionnées. Sauver les peuples pasteurs qui maintiennent ce trésor en vie passe par la reconnaissance et la juste rétribution de leur travail irremplaçable de sélection.

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