Recent droughts in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa have forced many people to alter the forms and locations of their economic activities. Some of these adaptations have resulted in short-term gains, but their long-term consequences are likely to further stress environmental conditions. Changes in lifestyles also have exacerbated tensions between different groups of people. This doctoral dissertation project will expand a study already under way in the inner Niger River valley of Mali, where drier parts of flood plains have undergone more intensive grazing, thereby accelerating their degradation. Changing climatic conditions have altered the timing and location of routes used to move livestock between wet- and dry-season pastures, and the expansion of areas of rice cultivation has further affected these movements. This project will analyze satellite images to determine how agricultural practices have affected movements and to identify ways in which economic and cultural practices have interacted with environmental processes in an especially sensitive region. This project will provide valuable information on the complex ways in which human and natural systems respond to one another during times of rapid change, both in the study area and in a broader range of locales. The project also will provide an excellent opportunity for a promising young scholar to continue to develop independent research skills.
