Sahelian Pastoralists: Underdevelopment, Desertification, and Famine

A large number of fields of study are relevant to the genesis of the Sahel famine of 1968-1973, so I have chosen to focus this review on three issues that seem to me the most important: (a) some aspects of the Sahelian pastoral economy and its relation to wider market economies; (b) the demography of Sahelian pastoralists; (c) changes in the last half century, corresponding to the period from the imposition of French colonial rule. Hard information is scarce in all these fields, so it is hazardous to theorize; but without some attempt at explanation of the recent events in terms more satisfactory than population growth or climate change, little progress can be made. I have not drawn specific development policy conclusions from this, preferring to let the historical record speak for itself.