**3.5 Way forward to sustain grasslands**

An increase in the human population triggers a need for food sufficiency that stimulates cultivation of land and livestock keeping which is based on the availability of land. This shows that in many cases increase in the human population in rural areas results in the expansion of cultivated land to cater to food demand. However, this scenario occurs when land is available for expansion of crop farms but changes to intensive cultivation when land is scarce.

Changing from extensive crop cultivation to intensive cultivation and reducing grazing pressure is inevitable for the sustainability of grasslands in Tanzania because the land is a fixed commodity. Intensive cultivation will be achieved by increasing production in the same land units by increasing agricultural inputs and technology. Reducing grazing pressure in grasslands will be achieved by either reducing the number of grazing animals per unit of land or reducing the duration of grazing on grassland units.

Determinants of the holistic direction that agro-pastoralism is developing in Tanzania are still not clearly understood. A combined model including economic, social, ecological components and wildlife conservation is needed to enable predictions about the future of agro-pastoralism in areas that are adjacent to protected areas.
