Vol. 4 · No. 1 · 2000

Claire Heffernan and Jonathan Rushton

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In the development community, restocking is often viewed as the best means of reversing the trend toward the increasing impoverishment of pastoralists. The ecological and socio-economic advantages of restocking are generally cited However, the short-term success of many projects has prevented a critical assessment of the long-term impact. Much of the literature concentrates on the technical issues of project design and implementation. The social, economic and environmental complexities of rehabilitating the small-scale pastoral sector are often ignored. The objective of this paper is not to argue against restocking but rather to expose issues which require greater consideration. By analysing current assumptions, the intention is to provoke a debate on methods to improve the overall sustainability of restocking.