Land Saturation in SE Niger: Triangulating Qualitative and Quantitative Information for Critical Assessment of Land Use Trajectories

Anette Reenberg, Issoufou Maman, Ibrahim Bouzou Moussa and Bjarne Fog
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Anette Reenberg: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Oster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
Issoufou Maman: Département de Géographie, Université de Niamey, BP 418, Niamey, Niger
Ibrahim Bouzou Moussa: Département de Géographie, Université de Niamey, BP 418, Niamey, Niger
Bjarne Fog: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Oster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark

Land, 2013, vol. 2, issue 3, 1-26

Abstract: The paper analyzes land use changes, notably cropland expansion, in SE-Niger from the mid-1980s to 2011. It scrutinizes land use trajectories and investigates how cultivation shifts between dune landscapes and valleys (bas-fonds) in response to climate, population pressure, and sociocultural opportunities, combining lenses rooted in land change science and the notions of double exposure and human-environmental timelines. Specifically, the interest is directed towards exploring the value of different methods of land use data harvesting. The importance of cropland expansion is assessed in two ways: by interpreting Landsat satellite images and by interviewing local people to obtain qualitative descriptions. The results demonstrate a glaring discrepancy between the assessed land use trends derived from these two data sources. Issues such as important developments in landscape priorities, allocation of cropland between dunes and valleys, possible land saturation, and adaptation to climate change or globalization are portrayed very differently. It is concluded that critical attention to data reliability is crucial to avoid misleading narratives in land change science, especially in places covered by sparse data.

Keywords: satellite image mapping; Landsat; land systems; livelihoods; Sahel; population pressure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:2:y:2013:i:3:p:508-533:d:29009

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