This article reports a rapid method for rangeland assessments in
Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda by harnessing pastoralists'
indigenous knowledge among the Orma, Afar and Karamojong
pastoralists. The study developed and evaluated a methodological
framework for conducting joint assessments with pastoralist
range scouts. The framework has four components: selection of
ecological and anthropogenic indicators, indicator integration,
evaluation of indicator outcomes and regional decision-making
systems. The feedbacks between different components were used
for information transfer. The framework was applied to the three
case studies (using participatory methods). The scouts conducted
rangeland assessments using ecological and anthropogenic
indicators. Soils, and then vegetation, and finally livestock
production were used as the main indicators for understanding
rangeland degradation. In addition, pastoralists used key-plant
species to assess landscape-grazing suitability and soils to
assess landscape-grazing potential.