Deep mutation of land tenure status occurred during the last fifty years with strong impacts on technical and socio-economic issues. This mutation is due to collective rangeland privatisation and consequent cropping and tree planting of best pastures. Different rangeland management practices are reviewed and analysed using results of rapid rural appraisals, household surveys and econometric analysis of 5 samples from representative communities from the Centre and the South of the country. Livestock production systems are discussed and analysed for the different rangeland management options, as well as current land use, farm and off-farm income distribution. Finally, the paper reviewed the main technical option for rangeland improvement in arid areas, targeting deferment grazing, reseeding, shrub planting and fertilizer application. Most of these techniques seem to be inefficient under harsh environments and appropriate management tools involving users/communities and based on the promotion of local institutions remain probably the most promising solution.