Over half of the world’s land area is grazed in various ways: in mixed farming systems, ranching, by wildlife and through pastoralism. Pastoralism is practised mainly on the grasslands that cover about a quarter of the world’s surface (Follet & Reed 2010). It is also closely associated with mobile herds and with the drylands (WISP 2008, Robinson et al. 2011). Livestock husbandry is the most important method of producing food in the drylands that cover 41% of the Earth’s land surface (UNCCD) and are home to about 40% of the global population. Pastoralism is very diverse: it can be found in all continents, from the drylands of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to the highlands of Asia and Latin America, or the tundra in the circumpolar zones, and in particular where crop cultivation is physically limited (FAO 2001). The degree of social and political support for pastoralism is equally diverse, with some governments strongly opposed, while others (such as in Europe) beginning to support it so as to manage and conserve biological diversity (Nori & Gemini 2011). Regardless of the variations, the various forms of pastoralism have certain common features: communal land ownership and use, mobile herds, and locally adapted livestock breeds. Across Africa, Asia, and Latin America more than 50% of the local breeds of sheep and goats, and almost all those of camelids and yaks, have been developed in, and are adapted to, the specific conditions and disease prevalence of the respective drylands (Hoffmann 2014). Pastoralism supports several hundred million households worldwide (Pastoralist Knowledge Hub 2016). It manages one billion animals, including camelids, cattle, sheep and goats, in addition to yaks, horses and reindeer, contributing about 10% of the world’s meat production. It produces food and ecological services, and is often the only significant economic contribution in the world’s poorest regions. It is the cultural backbone of longstanding civilizations (Nori and Davies 2007). With its mobility and collective resource management, it is now recognized as a rational and sustainable livelihood strategy in marginal lands (Morton et al. 2007).