Effects of Socioeconomic Factors on Rangeland Institutional Options on the Semi-arid Regions in Jordan

There are four rangeland management options practiced in the low rainfall areas in Jordan, namely; tribal management of open access, cooperative management, state-managed reserves and private rangeland. The discrete choice of the Probit model was used to explain the socioeconomic characteristics of herders and their role in the herder choices to adopt different management options. Sheepherders are using different combinations of rangeland management options depending on the influence of several factors such as the existence of institutions, the herder’s formal education and his household size. Herding practices, such as hiring a shepherd, are positively correlated with choosing the tribal and cooperative management option. Results show that increasing the flock size owned by sheepherders will increase the probability of utilizing the tribal management option and will make it less probable to utilize state-managed reserves. Results also show that herders integrating crop and livestock are less likely to choose state-managed shrubs. Rangeland cooperative option can reduce the probability of utilizing tribal rangelands. Real involvement of rural communities in the collective action of rangeland management is an attractive idea to improve rangeland in Jordan. Enhancing the establishment of rangeland users associations or cooperatives using conditional lease of rangeland utilization will protect rangelands and make the ultimate benefit of it in a sustainable manner