Assessment of rangeland issues, challenges and options in the western region of afghanistan

Rangeland supplies forage for the livestock industry, habitat for wildlife, and water for people and animals, beauty and pleasure for everyone and an economic base for rural communities, as well as it occupies 45% of the Western Region of Afghanistan. The issues and challenges around sustainable rangeland management are intertwined with social, environmental and economic dynamics of the pastoral communities. Our objectives are to investigate and identify the issues, challenges and options for sustainable grazing systems in the Western Region of Afghanistan. Several tools and methods were used sequentially or jointly to collect data in relation to the specific situation on the field and by adapting the method/tool/technique to facilitate the achievement of the objective, such as quantitative and qualitative questionnaire and expert survey. In this research, 100 Interviewees were selected randomly and interviewed during year 2012. The results of this research evidenced that lack of alternative energy resources to replace fire fuel collection, increasing conversion of rangeland into cropland, excess of grazing pressure, recurrent droughts and inaccessibility of grazing animals to water are also issues of fundamental importance in this area. Poverty of rural population, inequitable access to rangeland, especially pastoral communities, and limited capacity of the government to mitigate the impact of natural disasters are also major challenges. Participatory approaches based on closed collaboration between local communities and improvements of their traditional institutions are vital for identifying options for the sustainable management of rangeland resources.