A New Scientist article points out that nomadic pastoralism might have a role in the 21 century:

From the Kalahari desert to Mongolia, the world's estimated 200 million nomads are losing land to farmers and ranchers. Often the land is grabbed in the name of economic progress. Last month, the Kenyan government announced plans to plough up 120 square kilometres of pastures in the Tana river delta for sugar plantations.

Jonathan Davies, who wrote the review for the IUCN, says pastoralism can be up to 10 times as productive as commercial ranching. He found that in countries such as Senegal and Niger, 80 per cent of agricultural output comes from the milk, meat, wool, hide, blood and dung of livestock. Nomads dominate the export of cashmere from China, leather from Ethiopia and camel milk from Mauritania.

Pastoralism usually makes the best use of natural resources, especially where water shortages mean that the best strategy is to follow the rains. Far from causing desertification, grazing by the nomads' animals often increases biodiversity, and the dung fertilises the soil. The pasturelands hold carbon in their soils, whereas ploughing grassland can release more carbon than felling a forest.

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