Agricultural investments and farmer-fulani pastoralist conflict in West African drylands : A northern Ghanaian case study

In the Global South, there is a push to drive agricultural modernisation processes through private sector investments. In West African drylands, land concessions are required for such agri-businesses are often negotiated through customary authorities, and inject large amounts of money into localised rural systems with low cash bases. The article argues that such transactions serve to increase area under crop cultivation on an inter-seasonal basis, as financial spill-overs allow for farmers to purchase larger quantities of agricultural inputs and prepare larger tracts of land. Simultaneously, such direct and indirect cash flows also result in larger local herd sizes and an increase in the number of locally-owned cattle, as cash is exchanged for cattle, largely regarded as an interest-accruing, savings buffer. Larger herd sizes, in turn, attract Fulani pastoralists in search of employment as contracted herders for local cattle owners. Taking Integrated Water and Agricultural Development (IWAD), a private sector, large-scale irrigation initiative in northern Ghana as a case study, the article argues that there is an inevitability of the pathway, which leads from large-scale land acquisitions in West-African drylands, to an increase in conflict (and/or the risk thereof) between sedentary and Fulani pastoralists

Digging Deeper Inside Africa's Agricultural, Food and Nutrition Dynamics

This book takes a closer look at the surprising increase in agricultural production in African countries since 2000, which appear to be keeping pace with population growth, and the translation to Africa how to feed the increasingly urbanized and growing populations in the coming decades.Intro -- Digging Deeper: Inside Africa's Agricultural, Food and Nutrition Dynamics -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Figures, Maps, Photos and Tables -- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations -- List of Contributors -- 1 Introduction -- Section 1: Mapping the Evidence -- 2 Mapping the Food Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa -- 3 Agricultural Pockets of Effectiveness in Africa: A Comparative Inventory of Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda since 2000 -- 4 Food Production and Consumption in Relation to Food Insecurity and Undernutrition in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda -- Section 2: Agricultural Production and Effectiveness -- 5 Dairy Clustering in Kenya -- 6 Biofuel Feedstock Production in Ethiopia: Status, Challenges and Contributions -- 7 Local Careers and Mixed Fortunes in Africa's Globalizing Food Exports: The Case of Nile Perch from Lake Victoria, Uganda -- Section 3: Drivers of Food Production -- 8 Pressures and Incentives: Urban Growth and Food Production at Tamale's Rural-Urban Interface -- 9 The Dynamics of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture -- 10 From Suitcase Farmers to Telephone Farmers: Agriculture and Diversified Livelihoods among Urban Professionals -- Section 4: Institutional Issues -- 11 National Agricultural Research Systems in Africa -- 12 Contributions of Small- and Large-Scale Farms and Foreign and Local Investments to Agricultural Growth: The Nigerian Example -- 13 Loss and Damage from Droughts and Floods in Rural Africa -- 14 Agriculture and Nutrition: Linkages and Complementarities -- Appendix A: Selected Statistics of Major World Regions and Selected Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa -- Appendix B: Fifty Years of Agricultural and Food Dynamics in Africa - Statistical DataThis book takes a closer look at the surprising increase in agricultural production in African countries since 2000, which appear to be keeping pace with population growth, and the translation to Africa how to feed the increasingly urbanized and growing populations in the coming decades.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries

Uses and vulnerability of ligneous species exploited by local population of northern Burkina Faso in their adaptation strategies to changing environments

Arid and semi-arid areas of West Africa are highly subject to climate change effects. This is combined to other drivers such as population growth and livestock number increase. To cope with such changing environment, endogenous adaptation strategies of poor local communities rely on the use of natural resources through empirical knowledge. Unfortunately, these knowledge and practices are insufficiently known to policy makers, and this hampers their consideration in the elaboration of adaptation strategies. A household survey was conducted in the Sillia village in northern Burkina Faso using semi-structured interviews. This study identified most used (preferred) species in this changing environment together with their ethnobotanical use value (VUET). Results Overall, 86 ligneous species were listed in seven (7) use categories: human nutrition, fodder, fuel, traditional medicine, handicraft, construction and trade. From the 86 species, 11 appeared the most preferred by local population (VUET ≥ 6). Except Piliostigma reticulatum and Boscia senegalensis, all these species were part of the 21 very vulnerable species as revealed by the study. Tamarindus indica, Balanites aegyptiaca, Lannea microcarpa and Vitellaria paradoxa are the first most preferred species (VUET ≥ 7) and also most vulnerable (IV > 2.5). In this changing environment, Cassia sieberiana, Combretum micranthum, Balanites aegyptica have, for instance, become the main species used in traditional medicine replacing Ximenia americana, Coclospermum tinctorim, Maytenus senegalensis and Securidaca longepedunculata, formerly used for this need. Also, Piliostigma reticulatum is the main species used in farm lands to combat low soil fertility. Pterocarpus lucens and Adansonia digitata are the main fodder species both during dry and rainy seasons. Apart from the household surveys, vegetation survey was conducted on 96 plots in Sillia. The results showed that 25 species cited in the household surveys had locally disappeared, 22 were rare, 5 were abundant and the others were relatively abundant. Certain collection practices of given species in many use categories increase their vulnerability. Conclusion This study documented preferred species in the adaptation strategies to changing environments and also assessed their vulnerability status under human influence; it is therefore of great use for designing sustainable management