The Re-Greening of the Sahel: Natural Cyclicity or Human-Induced Change?

Issa Ouedraogo, Jürgen Runge, Joachim Eisenberg, Jennie Barron and Séraphine Sawadogo-Kaboré
Additional contact information
Issa Ouedraogo: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Jürgen Runge: Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Afrikaforschung (ZIAF), Institut für Physische Geographie, Goethe-Universität, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
Joachim Eisenberg: Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Afrikaforschung (ZIAF), Institut für Physische Geographie, Goethe-Universität, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
Jennie Barron: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Séraphine Sawadogo-Kaboré: CAP-PPAAO/WAAPP Burkina, 01 BP 6285 Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

Land, 2014, vol. 3, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: The Sahel has been the focus of scientific interest in environmental-human dynamics and interactions. The objective of the present study is to contribute to the recent debate on the re-greening of Sahel. The paper examines the dynamics of barren land in the Sahel of Burkina Faso through analysis of remotely-sensed and rainfall data from 1975–2011. Discussions with farmers and land management staff have helped to understand the anthropogenic efforts toward soil restoration to enable the subsistence farming agriculture. Results showed that area of barren land has been fluctuating during the study period with approximately 10-year cyclicity. Similarly, rainfall, both at national and local levels has followed the same trends. The trends of the area of barren land and rainfall variability suggest that when rainfall increases, the area of barren land decreases and barren land increases when rainfall decreases. This implies that rainfall is one of the main factors driving the change in area of barren land. In addition, humans have contributed positively and negatively to the change by restoring barren lands for agriculture using locally known techniques and by accelerating land degradation through intensive and inappropriate land use practices.

Keywords: Sahel; Burkina Faso; re-greening; land degradation; soil restoration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:3:y:2014:i:3:p:1075-1090:d:39894

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