Coastal Zones of the Arid Tropics and Pastoral Systems: Focusing on Human-Camel Relationships

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to establish a general framework within which to consider pastoral systems in the coastal zones of the arid tropics, focusing on human-camel relationships. Points at issue were determined by reviewing literature related to three topics: 1) pastoral systems in the arid tropics; 2) pastoralists living in its coastal zones; 3) human-camel relationships.

As a results of these analyses, I set up twelve topics for discussion: 1) What kinds of water do one-humped camels and camel pastoralists drink to live in the coastal zones of the arid tropics? 2) Which species of plants do one-humped camels graze there? 3) What are the differences in pasture utilization between one-humped camels and other livestock there? 4) Which species of biological resources in addition to plants do camel pastoralists utilize there? 5) How do the coastal physical environments determine biological resource utilization of camel pastoralists? 6) What kinds of niches do one-humped camels occupy in the coastal ecosystems in terms of resource patch accessibility and availability? 7) How do camel pastoralists refer to the physical environments and how do they classify them? 8) How do camel pastoralists refer to the biological environments and how do they classify them? 9) How do camel pastoralists refer to the one-humped camel and how do they classify them? 10) Which species of biological resources of the coastal zones of the arid tropics are traded, and to what extent are they traded? 11) What roles do one-humped camels play in the broader network building and inter-ethnic relationships? 12) How do the natural environments and pastoral systems of the coastal zones of the arid tropics affect the survival of ethnic groups?

Finally, I summarize my discussion on some basic data from a case study of the Beja on the Red Sea coast in Eastern Sudan, and propose a direction for my study of pastoral systems in the arid tropics.