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The rangelands of the world are declining in productivity in spite of the introduction of programmes designed to modernise these traditional pastoral systems of livestock production. This paper suggests that, in designing the modern systems, planners have failed to appreciate the factors influencing success in the traditional systems and that disadvantages have resulted from the introduction of modern systems which reflect only [`]western' conditions. The maintenance of animal mobility and the common use of range pastures, together with a proper appreciation of critical resources and feedback information in traditional systems, should be the constituents of plans to improve productivity.