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The understanding of variability and the limits of equilibrium thinking in ecology has paid a great deal of attention to the drylands, further consolidating its presence in development circles along with the growing popularity of resilience theory in public knowledge and amongst policy makers.

The old theoretical horizon of drylands development—a conceptual framework that emphasises the desirability of stability, equilibrium and predictability—lingers on however, embedded in off-the-shelf methodology at all scales of operation. The practical dependence on this legacy results in a basis of misconceptions about the functioning, performance, and service capability of drylands food production systems, with important fallout in terms of policies and interventions.