Selected Bibliography on African Rural Geography

Abstract

The coverage of this bibliography is almost completely limited to articles appearing in the geographical journals or studies carried out by geographers. There is such a vast general literature on agricultural development and traditional land use that any attempt to glean selections for this listing would be arbitrary and would duplicate bibliographies already available. No attempt is made to cover the work of Portuguese or French geographers. Similarly, the survey is confined to the tropics, omitting North and South Africa. The emphasis of the bibliography is on the period 1960-1968, but significant itemps published before these dates are also included. These references should be useful in demonstrating the scope of work done by geographers with reference to rural Africa. As might be expected the bulk of the studies are ecological in their focus, concerned generally with land use and settlement patterns. However, some studies with a new emphasis should emerge from two current trends in geography. One is the investigation of the theme of environmental perception as exemplified by Philip Porter and several of his former students at the University of Minnesota and by Robert Kates, Clark University. The second trend, towards greater quantification in geography, is illustrated by the articles by Peter Gould and the book by Edward Soja. As the statistics available for each African country improve, more studies of this type should be forthcoming. Abbreviations used in the Bibliography: Annals AAG Annals of the Association of American Geographers Cahiers I.S.E.A. Cahiers de l'institut de science economique appliqu6e EAISR East African Institute of Social Research