Décadence et résistance du pastoralisme. Les Peuls de la vallée du fleuve Sénégal

Abstract

C. Santoir — Pastoralism : Decline and Resistance (Fulani in the Senegal River Valley). Since the 1972 drought, herders have moved from the Senegal river valley toward southern farming areas with better weather. In the river valley (outside the delta), changes have occurred in dry season pastoral migrations. Yearly transhumance toward the valley has been replaced with wide-ranging nomadism, sometimes lasting several consecutive years. Successive climatic crises have forced pastoral Systems to adjust to smaller herd sizes, failed crops and the environment's lasting deterioration. Some Fulani herders have settled on the river valley's edge and, thanks to irrigation, are growing crops—more or less successfully. But most Fulani survive by leading a tradi-tional, pastoral way of life, even though they are more often involved in nonagricul-tural activities. Changes in agriculture in the valley may not radically change pastoralism nor put an end to it; for the latter is still quite active.