Cattle, Women, and Wells

Managing Household Survival in the Sahel

Häftad, Engelska, 2021

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Beskrivning

How people adapt and survive in the harsh environment of the drought-prone Sahelian region to the south of the Saharan desert forms the subject of this book. The author concentrates on the choices facing farmers in a small village in central Mali, West Africa. These farmers have had continually to adapt their farming methods in order to survive. The study shows how such changes have taken place and why some families are more successful than others in surviving and prospering. It provides an analysis of millet yields, and of returns to investment in ploughs, wells, and breeding cattle. Decisions regarding marriage, child-rearing, and household organization are discussed within an economic framework to demonstrate the strong economic rationale behind choices made in these spheres. The book concludes that larger, more diverse households found within this society (containing as many as forty to sixty people) are much better able to resist the risks of drought and illness than are small nuclear family groups. Environmental issues are shown to be crucial to the longer term viability of such a community.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2021-10-28
Mått:157 x 235 x 18 mm
Vikt:504 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:320
Förlag:OUP OXFORD
ISBN:9780198853046

Utforska kategorier

Miljöekonomi inom Ekonomi och Ledarskap
Ekonomiska system inom Ekonomi och Ledarskap

Mer om författaren

Camilla Toulmin is a British economist, specialising on African agriculture, drylands, tenure and climate change. She became a Senior Associate at the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED) in 2017, after 12 years as its Director. She has been appointed Professor in Practice at the University of Lancaster's Environment Centre (LEC) and is currently an Associate at the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). She has recently completed her term as Fellow of the Open Society Foundation (OSF). In her roles as Associate and Professor, she is engaging in a series of research, board and advisory activities, building on 40 years' work at the interface between the environment and development, and spanning local and global scales.

Innehållsförteckning

1: Introduction Part I: The Village Setting 2: Background to the Village of Kala 3: Climate, Cultivation, and Household Income Part II: Farm Production 4: The Farming System 5: Millet-production Analysis 6: Returns to Farming Part II: Farm Investment 7: Introduction 8: Well-digging 9: Oxen Plough Teams 10: Investment in Cattle-breeding Stock 11: Farm-investemnt Strategies Part IV: Managing the Family 12: Fertility and Child-rearing 13: Marriage 14: Bambara Household Organization Part V: Conclusions 15: Conclusions Appendix: Levelling Mechanisms within Bambara Society