alternatehistory.com

First off, I know this is a huge ask, because the idea I’m proposing was developed in response to a problem (desertification) and goes against prevailing wisdom. So, its hard to imagine it coming into practice early.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holistic_management_(agriculture)

https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/reversing-desertification-with-livestock

The basic idea is to fight desertification not by avoiding over grazing, but by grazing more thoughtfully. It makes sense when you think about it for a moment: animals are essential to restoring nutrients to the soil - dung decomposes far more readily than dead plants. Just as important, they eat dead plant cover that would otherwise strangle new plants. This is true for small livestock like sheep up to large non-domesticated animals like elephants.

So, rather than remove livestock from marginal lands, intense dense grazing is possible. This improves the output on its own, and from the consequence of homding back the desert.

The system is not without its critics, but lets set those aside for the moment and operate under the assumption that the proponents are correct.

How early could this system come into being, plausibly, and what might the consequences be if it was?

I could see maybe the 19th century, during the scramble for Africa. You’ve got a bunch of colonizers with an absolutely hubristic faith in modern science. Just the sort of people to go up to pastoralists who had been there since literally before the dawn of history and tell them they’re wrong. Or who just want to find a way to exploit the less productive parts of their new colonial empires.
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