Seminomads

Seminomads are communities or households that combine nomadic mobility with sedentary residence. They typically maintain a home base, such as a village or compound, while regularly moving part of the year to access pastures, water sources, or other resources necessary for their livelihood. This pattern places them between full nomadism and settled life and is distinct from both perennial sedentism and continuous migration.

Movement and economy: Movements are often seasonal, tied to environmental cycles; families may shift between camps or grazing grounds within a defined region, keeping livestock herds together. The economic base is usually pastoralism—raising sheep, goats, cattle, or camels—with supplementary activities such as limited crop farming, craft production, or wage labor in nearby settlements.

Social organization and land use: Seminomadic groups tend to rely on kin-based networks and customary rules to manage grazing lands, water access, and migratory corridors. Land tenure and resource access are often negotiated with state authorities and neighboring communities, reflecting a hybrid governance framework.

Relation to other patterns: Seminomadism is described as an intermediate lifestyle between nomadism and sedentary living. Transhumance is a related but more structured form of seasonal movement that typically involves fixed seasonal settlements. Historical and contemporary forces, including climate variation and policy changes, influence the prevalence of semi-nomadic practices, sometimes promoting sedentarization or reinforcing mobility.

Terminology and usage: In scholarly writing, semi-nomadic is the common descriptor; seminomads appears as a shorthand label in some sources. As with other adaptable subsistence strategies, the specifics of mobility and settlement vary by region and community.