The Effect of Poverty on Risk Reduction Strategies of Fulani Nomads in Niger

Summary

This paper challenges conventional development approaches to pastoral systems by documenting how Fulani pastoralists in Niger have developed sophisticated adaptive strategies to manage inherent risk and environmental variability in disequilibrium ecosystems. The author argues that traditional pastoral practices—particularly mobility and flexible herd management—are more productive and resilient than equilibrium-based models promoted by external experts, and that misguided policies focused on overgrazing have hindered understanding of herders' actual strategies.

Regional applicability

While this study focuses on Niger, its findings on pastoral adaptive management in arid and semi-arid zones are relevant to similar pastoral systems across Africa and the Sahel. The critique of externally-imposed equilibrium models may inform UK development policy and research approaches to pastoral development in African regions, though direct application to UK farming systems is limited.

Key measures

Pastoral risk reduction strategies, herd management practices, land productivity in communal pastoral systems, animal productivity in transhumant versus settled herds.

Outcomes reported

The study examines how Fulani pastoralists in Niger employ adaptive management strategies to absorb and manage risk in dynamic, variable arid and semi-arid ecosystems. It argues that traditional pastoral strategies prioritise resilience and mobility rather than equilibrium-based herd and range management approaches.

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