Part 1 Introduction. Part 2 A socio-economic framework of pastoralism: preamble; an idealized model of a pastoral economy; a realistic model of a pastoral sector; conclusions. Part 3 Livestock-capital, range and the people: livestock as capital and problems of its accumulation; trade in livestock and the distribution of its ownership; rangeland and its management; sedentarization - a partial solution. Part 4 Pastoral nomadism -the case of Somalia: land, people and their livelihood; livestock; commercialization of the pastoral sector; development planning and the nomads. Part 5 The Sahelian drought: the drought and demography; the MIT report; comparison and assessment of Caldwell's and Picardi's approaches; a third point of view. Part 6 Transhumance - the case of Botswana: the development of trade in livestock; Botswana's development programmes - a reassessment; national policy on tribal grazing land. Part 7 Some speculations on the prospects of the pastoral mode of production: the alternatives; proposal for pastoral reform; is it worth it?; conclusions; appendices.