It was originally suggested that this paper should deal with problems associated with the management of grazings under low rainfall conditions and the title submitted was "Problems of management of grassland under low rainfall conditions in South Africa." It was decided, however, that as much of the veld under low rainfall conditions was not grassland, it would be better to deal with the main veld regions in areas of low rainfall. The next decision to be made was what was to be considered as "low rainfall" and, after a careful study of the main veld types, it was decided that low rainfall areas would include those which enjoyed an annual rainfall of 20 inches or less.