May 2024: Field research on social-ecological tipping points in communal areas

In May 2024, social anthropologist Dr. Diego Menestrey conducted field research in the communal areas of the Okakarara Constituency to gain a deeper understanding of social-ecological tipping points. His fieldwork focused on assessing farmers' lived experiences of rangeland desertification and how they perceive and manage the degradation cascades that have led to the current state of rangelands and potential desertification tipping points.

During the field trip, Dr. Menestrey engaged with farmers who had lost all their livestock, investigating the broader social, political, and environmental factors contributing to these challenging circumstances. His research aims to explore the applicability of the concept of socio-ecological tipping points in analyzing dynamic pastoral systems, especially in terms of understanding the social impacts of abrupt and potentially irreversible changes.

Accordingly, this research also involves identifying potential pathways for recovery and alternative land use practices that farmers could adopt in the face of increasing climate variability and socio-economic precarity.