Migrations, société et développement en pays Mossi

Abstract

G. Sautter—Migrations, Society, and Development in Mosiland. A synthetic approach of Mosi migratory movements based upon a multidisciplinary enquiry conducted by the Office for Scientific and Technical Research Overseas (ORSTOM) between 1971 and 1975. The phenomenon is especially complex as it involves internai displacements (towards cities or rural areas where land is still available) and external ones (to foreign countries, chiefly the Ivory Coast). Demographie factors are ail-important yet cannot be isolated from traits pertaining to the social structure such as the kinship System and the relationships between generations. A number of previous stereotypes, concerning, for instance, bridewealth and financial support of the migrants' families, have been proven false. In fact, internai migrations toward 'free' land may well prove more significant, in a develop-mental perspective, than external ones. This confronts the Upper Volta govern-ment with a choice of policy-—between spontaneous and organized settlements— which remains to be decided upon.