Pastoralists, droughts, and survival in West Africa

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)