Revue d'ethnoécologie (Dec 2012)
Du nomadisme à la sédentarisation
Abstract
In West and Central Sudano-Sahelian Africa, the intensification and modernisation of livestock farming promoted by environmental and livestock support services were not immediately accepted by herdsmen. Major changes in pastoralism started in the 70’s when severe droughts decimated livestock, followed by the inflow of migrant farmers on pasture land. Current studies on pastoral livestock farming, crop and livestock integration, and livestock product industries carried out within the framework of four PhD theses at AgroParisTech and two development-oriented research projects (ARDESAC and DURAS) in Cameroon, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali highlight current transformations and modalities, and raise general issues based on local specificities. Herdsmen progressively settled to take control of territories from which they could organise strategic transhumance, and sometimes transfer part of their herds to more favourable areas. They adopted cereal cultivation and showed innovation capacities by using organic manure, off-farm labour and herbicides. This enabled them to obtain high yields in the Sahel, diversify sources of income and thus reduce auctioning their cattle, which is often considered a drama. On the other hand, farmers still hesitate to change their basic livestock farming practices. In addition to the difficulty to access or use pastoral resources, their decrease does not – unless exceptionally – lead to collective actions or individual innovations to restore them. More concerned by the future of their farms, cattle farmers yet are not well-organised in groups. Except for those settled in the peri-urban area, they so far do not take advantage of opportunities generated by the high increase in meat and milk demand. Their full integration in territorial development projects depends on the exchanges (resources, services, knowledge, interests) with neighbouring communities of crop-farmers and other stakeholders. Hence, the issues raised by the transformation of pastoralism are ecological, economic and social. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the pastoral systems of West Africa where pastoralism and its transformation process are older, and those of Central Africa where these processes are emerging in a context characterised by the lack of livestock support services and the general insecurity of well-being. Livestock breeding systems, crop-livestock relationships and livestock product industries are studied to highlight the modalities of farming practices, stakeholder logics and their effects on the sustainability of natural resources, economic profitability and social equity. Finally, prospects are put forward to support the sustainable development of pastoral faming systems.
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