Adapting to Drought: Farmers, Famines and Desertification in West Africa

by Michael Mortimore

Overview

This book embodies the results of thirteen years of research in drought-prone rural areas in the semi-arid zone of northern Nigeria. It describes the patterns of adaptive behaviour observed among Hausa, Ful'be and Manga communities in response to recurrent drought in the 1970s and 1980s. The question of desertification is explored in an area where the visible evidence of moving sand dunes is dramatic blame are examined in relation to the field evidence. A critique is offered of deterministic theories and authoritarian solutions. Professor Mortimore demonstrates a parallel between the observable resilience of semi-arid ecosystems and the adaptive strategies of the human communities that inhabit them and suggests policy directions for strengthening that resilience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521104272
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/19/2009
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. From feast to famine?; 3. Drought in the 1970s; 4. Thirteen years in the life of a village; 5. Wider horizons; 6. Two dry decades; 7. Shifting sands; 8. Interpretation; 9. Policy directions; Notes; Bibliography; Index.