Browsing by Author "Bovin, M."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Nomads of the Drought: Fulbe and Wodaabe Nomads Between Power and Marginalization in the Sahel of Burkina Faso and the Niger Republic
    Bovin, M. (1990)
    The recurrence of drought in the Sahel means there is a necessity for pastoralists to incorporate "drought potentiality" into their social and economic systems. The pastoralist group the WoDaabe and the agro-pastoralist group of the Fulbe Litaako are people who no longer dominate the social systems, but have become, over the last twenty years, "involved in a process of marginalization along with impoverishment and proletarizatin, sedentarization, and agriculturialization" (37). Those who have lost all their animals have a range or suboptimal choices, including begging, making and selling jewelry or medicines, laboring or prostitution. Both languages make a distinction between drought and famine. Droughts are given descriptive names and are held responsible for the increase in tension and conflict between ethnic groups in the Sahel. Whereas the western model of drought includes the climatic elements and the sociopolitical elements of drought. The Sahelian model includes the third element of Allah. Methods of redistributing and circulating animals during times of drought, include the practice of loaning an animal for a season either for its mild or its offspring, and the redistribution after loss which ensures the survival of the family structure. The WoDaabe are, the author suggests, practicing "cultural resistance" (50) in their dress and through their rejection of Islamic culture. Increased drought for them has meant an increased mobility, which has caused them a dilemma on account of their increased dependency on grain. The Fulbe tend in the opposite direction, that is towards sedentarization in the face of increased drought. Systems of redistribution such as borrowing a cow are no longer practiced, and salaried herding is normal. The author rejects the dichotomy between opportunistic and conservative stocking, saying that survival depends on the ability to use both methods. However, the needs of the pastoralist are not factored into any calculation of conservative stocking, only the environmental carrying capacity and for this reason opportunistic farming is favored by the author as this includes the survival on the human population as well as the external environment.
  • Pastoralists, droughts, and survival in West Africa
    Bovin, M.; Negash, T. (1995)
    The paper focuses on two groups of nomads in West Africa: a pastoralist group, the WoDaaBe of Niger, and an agro-pastoralist group, the FulBe Liptaako (Fulani) of Burkina Faso. These two groups have different social organization systems and live under different ecological systems. The situation of the two groups is briefly described, including the severe droughts that have occurred in the Sahel during the 1970s and 1980s. Some reasons for the drought are suggested, including climatic factors, man-made and also society-made, which is the reason believed by many of the nomads. The paper discusses some of the effects of droughts and strategies of survival adopted by nomads. These divide into two main groups: sedentarization, or increased mobility/migration. Five strategies used by the WoDaaBe in the countries around Lake Chad are listed. (CAB Abstracts)
  • Resource Management and Pastoral Institution Building in the West African Sahel
    Shanmugaratnam, N.; Vedeld, T.; Mossige, A.; Bovin, M. (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1992)
    The study reviews experiences in the formation of pastoral institutions in government-sponsored, World Bank-assisted development projects in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal, with the particular objective of assessing their potential as custodians of natural resources and participants in sustainable resource management. In each case, the programme for pastoral organization and training was one component of a multi-component development project with a broader focus on 'livestock' or 'agriculture'. This report is based on project documents, recent literature on issues pertaining to pastoralism and natural resources management in the Sahel, and fieldwork in the countries concerned. A major constraint was the lack of basic data on the formation and performance of pastoral organizations (POs) in any of the four projects. None of the projects had a proper monitoring and evaluation system for the PO component. Efforts to collect quantitative data on POs when they were visited in the course of fieldwork were limited by the absence of records and lack of time. Sandford's definition (1983) is followed: pastoralists derive most of their income or sustenance from keeping domestic livestock in conditions where most of the feed eaten by their livestock is natural forage, not cultivated fodders and pastures. In its broader sense 'pastoralism' refers to the way of life of pastoralists, their socioeconomic institutions and land-use systems. The definition adopted here covers 'pure' pastoralism, and other mixed forms in which the pastoral component is dominant, for example agro-pastoralism and agro-sylvo-pastoralism. 'Pastoral organizations' (POs) is used as a generic term to cover all types of institutional arrangements that regulate individual and collective actions by pastoralists to safeguard and promote their economic, social, cultural, and political interests. The findings indicate that the formation and operation of pastoral associations must still be regarded as a pilot development activity, although valuable lessons and recommendations can be deduced, even at this early stage. The challenge now is to incorporate these lessons and recommendations in the design of future projects that aim to establish viable sustainable pastoral institutions and resource management activities. (CAB Abstract)