Livestock herds, overgrazing and range degradation in Zimbabwe: How and why do the herds keep growing?

This paper looks at African livestock herds in Zimbabwe over the period 1890-1980. The focus is on the livestock system in the tribal areas where, under communal land use, there has been long-term concern with environmental deterioration Zimbabwe was chosen because it is one of the few African countries for which reasonably accurate historical data are available regarding African (common range) as opposed to Europen (closed range) herd development. In this paper, African owned cattle in Zimbabwe, African and European cattle holdings, African and European cattle and African smallstock African and European cattle drought, and African population, cattle and cultivation are illustrated.