Cattle, women, and wells managing household survival in the Sahel
How do people adapt and survive in the harsh environment of the drought-prone Sahelian region, south of the Sahara desert? This work examines choices facing farmers in this region, and includes a discussion of crop choice, attempts to improve yields, investments in equipment, and the effects of thes...
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| Format: | UnknownFormat |
| Sprache: | eng |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Oxford, United Kingdom, New York, NY
Oxford University Press
2021
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| Ausgabe: | First edition |
| Schlagworte: |
Bambara (African people)
> Agriculture
> Domestic animals
> Social conditions
> Economic aspects
> Cattle
> Human ecology
> Agriculture ; Economic aspects
> Bambara (African people) ; Agriculture
> Bambara (African people) ; Social conditions
> Cattle ; Economic aspects
> Economic history
> Kala (Mali)
> Economic conditions
> Mali ; Kala
> Mali
> Bambara
> Viehwirtschaft
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Tag hinzufügen | Zusammenfassung: | How do people adapt and survive in the harsh environment of the drought-prone Sahelian region, south of the Sahara desert? This work examines choices facing farmers in this region, and includes a discussion of crop choice, attempts to improve yields, investments in equipment, and the effects of these decisions on family and household organization This book describes the choices open to farming families in the Sahelian village of Kala, in central Mali. Life in this drought-prone region is harsh and full of risk to health, crops, and livestock, yet there are also opportunities open to the hard-working, audacious and lucky, bringing considerable returns if the timing is right. Three inter-related themes underlie the analysis of production and investment decisions faced by households; the role of risk, the long timeframe within which decisions are made, and the close links between economic performance and household size and organisation. Climatic variability and demographic uncertainty lie at the heart of domestic structures; the extreme vulnerability faced by single individuals means people cluster in large kin-based groups, pooling risks and providing protection. The very limited development of labour markets means that households rely almost entirely on their own members for their workforce, and generating the capital needed for investing in ploughs, wells, carts and livestock must stem from a good year's grain surplus and migration earnings. Based on field-research over the period 1980-82, this study illustrates a successful response to making ends meet in a land abundant region, despite high risks of drought. A follow-up study of this village was published in 2020: Land, Investment, and Migration. Thirty-five years of village life in Mali (OUP) |
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| Beschreibung: | First published: 1992 Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-276) and index |
| Beschreibung: | xix, 283 Seiten, 8 ungezählte Seiten (Farbtafeln) Illustrationen, Diagramme, Karten 24 cm |
| ISBN: | 9780198853046 978-0-19-885304-6 0198853041 0-19-885304-1 |