From grazing pastures to city streets: stray cattle, urbanization, and livelihood challenges in ahmedabad

Abstract

Urbanization has caused a severe backlog in the pastoralist communities' traditional cattle rearing and livelihood practices. This research tries to examine how the Rabari community in the urban areas of Ahmedabad negotiates their way through the brisk urbanization and changes that the city goes through, the loss of grazing lands has contributed to issues related to managing cattle. The study incorporates a mixed-method approach, allowing us to examine the complex socio-economic elements that underlie the problem of stray cattle. The study results display how the Rabaris have a difficult time negotiating their traditional and cultural identity and making changes in their cattle-rearing customs, leading to marginalization. Additionally, hinting at the absence of grazing lands, lack of adequate property rights, and difficulty in acquiring cattle-rearing licenses. This research aims to draw attention to the paradoxical existence of the Rabaris residing in the urban spaces of Ahmedabad, which compels them to the margins of the social domain as they try to work their way out through the imposed identities presented to them by the social. The study emphasizes how necessary it is to have policies that are inclusive that take care of the rights of pastoralist communities like the Rabaris, asking for legislative action, inclusive urban policies, livelihood opportunities, and cooperative management of the cattle and their essential resources, by suggesting comprehensive approaches in understanding the numerous issues that need to be uncovered and solved for the betterment of the Rabaris and other pastoralist communities as well as for the urban landscape of Ahmedabad, ensuring a solid integration between the urbanization process and the safeguarding of traditional pastoralist livelihood activities.