Abstract
Sendzimir, J., C. P. Reij, and P. Magnuszewski. 2011. Rebuilding resilience in the Sahel: regreening in the Maradi and Zinder regions of Niger. Ecology and Society 16(3):1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04198-160301
Highlights
Since the late 1960s, the persistent recurrence of drought and famine in the African Sahel cast the region as helpless before the inexorable advance of the Sahara desert (e.g., Lamprey 1975, but see Tucker et al 1991, Nicholson et al 1998, and Kerr 1998)
From the women whose daily foraging for firewood has declined from 3 hours to 30 minutes each day, to farmers who export a surplus of vegetables to Nigeria, evidence suggests declining vulnerability and improved livelihoods for many in this social-ecological system (Larwanou et al 2006, Tougiani et al 2008, Reij et al 2009)
No study has systematically examined how all the potential factors interacted to promote this regreening. This paper addresses this gap with a systems analysis of interactions within and between the ecological, economic, and socio-political domains that might explain the changing dynamics of woodland cover over the past century
Summary
Since the late 1960s, the persistent recurrence of drought and famine in the African Sahel cast the region as helpless before the inexorable advance of the Sahara desert (e.g., Lamprey 1975, but see Tucker et al 1991, Nicholson et al 1998, and Kerr 1998). From the women whose daily foraging for firewood has declined from 3 hours to 30 minutes each day, to farmers who export a surplus of vegetables to Nigeria, evidence suggests declining vulnerability and improved livelihoods for many in this social-ecological system (Larwanou et al 2006, Tougiani et al 2008, Reij et al 2009). Perhaps success at this scale will encourage wider reporting of other “good news” stories of environmental rehabilitation and associated societal benefits from African farming systems (Tiffen et al 1994, Wellard and Mortimore 2000, Scoones and Wolmer 2002, Reij 2006)
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