Polarization in (post)nomadic resource use in Eastern Morocco: insights using a multi-agent simulation model
Authored by Birgit Mueller, Karin Frank, Gunnar Dressler, Falk Hoffmann, Ingo Breuer, David Kreuer, Mohamed Mahdi
Date Published: 2019
DOI: 10.1007/s10113-018-1412-9
Sponsors:
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)
Platforms:
C++
Model Documentation:
ODD
Flow charts
Pseudocode
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Mobile pastoralist strategies have evolved over centuries and are well
adjusted to the variable climatic conditions of semi-arid regions.
However, economic, social, and climatic changes, as well as technical
advancements such as truck transportation, have increasingly affected
the livelihood of pastoralist households in recent decades. An increase
in inequality has been observed between wealthy pastoralists with large
herds and impoverished households that are experiencing decreasing herd
sizes on the High Plateau in Eastern Morocco, for example. In addition,
whereas wealthy pastoralists possess the financial means to use trucks
to transport their herds across large distances, the impoverished
households are mainly limited to ranges they can travel by foot. This
phenomenon can be described as polarization: the emergence of two
distinct socio-economic groups with respect to household livestock and
monetary resources. The reasons that have led to this polarization,
however, are not well understood at present. In this study, we present a
multi-agent simulation model to examine the economic, ecological,
climatic, and demographic factors driving this polarization. The model
captures the feedbacks between pastoralist households, their herds, and
the pastures that they use in a common property grazing system. Using
this model, we are able to show that heterogeneities in household assets
(livestock and monetary resources) are only one cause of polarization.
Changes in ecological conditions and the impact of climate and
demographic change can also cause polarization, even if households are
completely homogeneous in their characteristics.
Tags
Agent-based model
Management
poverty trap
Pastoralism
Social-Ecological System
global change
System
Climate-change
Common property resource