Youth Mobility in an Isolated Sahelian Population of Mali

Abstract

This article uses fieldwork collected in four villages of the Sarnyéré Dogon in Mali between 2002 and 2010 to explore the impact of unprecedented individual youth mobility. This small Sahelian population has been challenged by declining natural resources and an opening up to the outside world. Temporary migration of families before each rainy season or harvest has always been part of this population’s adaptation to an arid environment, but youth mobility, especially among girls, is new. Although migration is short term and over relatively short distances, it is an increasingly prevalent alternative to agricultural subsistence strategies. Whereas economic reasons underpin boys’ mobility, for young unmarried girls, the predominant driving force is the discovery of the outside world. Broadly speaking, youth migration in this population is one part of changing intergenerational and gender relations and is especially related to youths’ more individual choices of spouse.