The solution is Holistic Land and Livestock management with rotational grazing on reserves.

Pastoral droughts occur in most years in many grazing areas in the northern regions of Nigeria’s landscapes. As a result, boreholes and rivers are going dry, livestock are malnourished and more susceptible to disease, and in a genuine drought many animals perish. In years when there are good rains, there is so little vegetation or litter accumulation on soil surfaces that most water runs off, creating floods that grow increasingly severe as the runoff moves down the catchment.

Livestock are commonly blamed for the destruction, and there is ample evidence that livestock management practices have led to the creation of bare ground and rapidly decreasing rainfall effectiveness.

However, livestock properly managed, can be used to lay down plant litter, prepare the soil so that more plants can grow, and thereby reduce evaporation and runoff and improve rainfall effectiveness.

Through Holistic Management and its planned grazing methodology, pastoral droughts can be eliminated and the severity and impact of any meteorological droughts that do occur can be reduced.