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Overstocking the Range: A Critical Analysis of the Environmental Science of SahelianPastoralismAuthor(s): Matthew TurnerSource: Economic Geography, Vol. 69, No. 4, Environment and Development, Part 2 (Oct.,1993), pp. 402-421Published by: Clark UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/143597 .

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Overstocking the Range: A Critical Analysis of the Environmental Science of Sahelian Pastoralism*

Matthew Turner Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Abstract: There has been little experimental work in West Africa that distinguishes grazing from climate effects on rangeland vegetation. In the absence of such knowledge, the recurrence of boom-bust cycles in livestock populations, along with the seemingly degraded state of semiarid range, have been used to support notions of the inevitability of overgrazing. Regional stocking rates are used as indicators of degradation potential. I argue that the persistent reliance by environmental analysts on carrying-capacity models oversimplifies range ecology and excludes social processes from causal analyses. Both regional stocking rates and the seasonality of livestock distributions should be treated as proximate factors, each affected by biophysical and socioeconomic conditions. The common assumption that the size of local livestock populations is primarily affected by bioclimatic factors results from a misunderstanding of the pastoral economy. A case study examines the underlying causes of the cattle population boom in the Maasina during the 1960s. Rather than being solely a biological phenomenon, growth in the Maasina cattle population resulted from the historical confluence of inoculation programs with greater local demand for covert accumulation brought about by the changing social relations between the FulIe and the Rimayp3e.

Key words: pastoralism, carrying capacity, range management, cattle markets, political ecology, degradation, overgrazing, population, surplus accumulation, Sahel, livestock.

Anthropogenic degradation of pastures and croplands and the resulting declines in development prospects in the Sahel have been described for some time (Chevalier 1934; Stebbing 1935; Fairbairn 1939; Advi- sory Committee on the Sahel 1984; Gorse and Steeds 1987). Despite this, our under- standing of the biophysical and social processes contributing to anthropogenic ecological deterioration remains limited. This is especially the case for the grazing of domestic livestock in the Sahel. A wide range of opinion exists concerning the importance of, and causal structures behind, grazing- induced deterioration of African rangelands (Warren and Maizels 1977; Lamprey 1983; Sinclair and Frywell 1985; Homewood and Rogers 1987; Horowitz and Little 1987). Re-

*Present address of author: Matthew Turner, Centre International pour lFElevage en Afrique, ICRISAT Sahelian Centre, BP 12404, Niamey, Niger.

source scientists/managers measure the potential for "overgrazing" by comparing the livestock density (stocking rate) of an area to an estimated carrying capacity. This ap- proach, despite significant questions as to its ecological validity, forms the basis for widely held views about the magnitude and social etiology of overgrazing in the arid lands of Africa.

This paper examines how environmental analysts' preoccupation with stocking rates works to exclude social processes from the etiology of grazing-induced degradation. I argue that an undue reliance on this seemingly straightforward measure is both symptom and cause of continued ignorance of the dynamics of grazing ecology in the Sa- hel. To characterize grazing-induced degradation as simply the result of an imbalance between stocking rates and carrying capacities not only oversimplifies grazing ecology but ignores the ecological importance of the effects of grazing management on the seasonal distribution of livestock.

402



OVERSTOCKING THE RANGE 403

Moreover, dynamic characterizations of this imbalance generally assume that the growth rates of domestic livestock populations are affected only by bioclimatic variables. Given its widespread influence on the environmental analysis of pastoralism, I will exam- ine closely the validity of this assumption. A case study of cattle population growth within a Sahelian agropastoral area is used to show that, once the economic roles played by cattle are considered, stocking rates do not respond solely to biophysical variables, but are significantly affected by changes in local and regional political economies.

Stocking Rate as Dominant Analytic Variable

"Ecological degradation" may be defined as the persistent reduction in the biological productivity of an area. In a range context, the biological characteristics of most concern include the above-ground biomass, forage quality, and species composition of lig- naceous and herbaceous vegetation. A myriad of biophysical pathways exist through which livestock actions could lower vegetative productivity (Fig. 1). These pathways vary in terms of the time scales in which they occur and their relative importance, depending on soil type, rainfall, aspect, and the timing and intensity of grazing. The study of degradation pathways is compli- cated by the high spatial and interannual variation in vegetation caused by differences in rainfall. The distribution and intensity of rainfall within a particular year has a large, if not dominant, effect on biomass production, species composition, and forage quality of semiarid annual grasslands (Bartolome 1979; Pitt and Heady 1979; Breman et al. 1980; Breman and Krul 1982; Rambal and Cornet 1982; Grouzis 1988, 166-75). As a result, discovering significant grazing-induced degradation in the Sahel proves extremely difficult.

Simplification of Ecological Complexity

Given these circumstances, an evalua- tion of grazing effects must control for

variation in rainfall, which necessarily involves the use of experimental controls, replications, and statistical significance testing. Unfortunately, these basic compo- nents of experimental research have not been incorporated into the research de- signs of much of the ecological work in the Sahel. Rather, this work has been dominated by range inventory and mapping studies, whose goal is to estimate the amount of palatable forage available to local livestock populations (Boudet 1975). This information is used to estimate a stocking rate that the inventoried range can support-that is, a carrying capacity (Bartels, Perrier, and Norton 1990; de Leeuw and Tothill 1990).

Implicit in such approaches is the assumption that, despite high natural variation in rainfall, changes in stocking rate have a discernible effect on the condition of the range. This reflects the influence of the range succession model, a conceptual model of rangeland dynamics most known for its influence on range management in North America. The range succession model assumes that rangeland, in the absence of grazing and drought, tends to evolve along a single con- tinuum toward a climax state. Increased grazing pressure leads to poorer range condition, while reduced grazing pressure im- proves range condition. Grazing and drought are both assumed to produce changes that move the rangeland away from the climax state toward earlier successional, more degraded states. Therefore, range condition during droughts can be improved by reducing grazing pressure (Westoby, Walker, and Noy-Meir 1989).

The applicability of the range succession model to arid and semiarid rangelands has been seriously questioned (Bar- tolome 1979; Pitt and Heady 1979; Westoby, Walker, and Noy-Meir 1989; Friedel 1991). Even so, it has had a significant influence on the agenda and methodologies used in Sahelian range research.' Combined with a short-term,

1 Saying that the range succession model has influenced the practice of range management



CATTLE MEDIATING LIMITS TO ACTIONS ! FACTORS I PRODUCTIVITY

I SAME-SEASOM EFFECTS Selective i Grazing

Differentional Defoliation

7 |> D |A. Leaf Area

AGB Removal ,EE LRainy Season i

Rain Season INTERANNIAJAL EFFECTS

See| d Production B. Species Comp.

AGB Removal Dry Season Soil Crusting C Seed Stock

NE<te\3J D. Moisture

Availability

IV~ SOM IN,P Export Trampl ing/

Compaction E. N\,utrient

iiBulk Densit Availability

Figure 1. Simplified schematic of the major pathways by which livestock actions may affect the productivity of herbaceous vegetation of Sahelian rangelands. AGB: standing above-ground biomass; SOM: soil organic matter; N: nitrogen; P: phosphorus; Species Comp.: species composition.



research in the Sahel should not be taken to mean that range research in the Sahel has adopted, wholesale, the methodologies tradi- tionally used in American range management. Successionist views of ecology are not found solely in North America. Nor is the successionist model the only intellectual tradition that has significantly influenced the conduct of range research. For example, the phytosocio- logical tradition in French plant ecology has been particularly influential, contributing to the prevalence of descriptive, nonexperimen- tal approaches in Sahelian range science. A full rendering of these various influences on range science as practiced in the Sahel is, however, beyond the scope of this paper.


crisis-oriented funding environment for scientific work in the Sahel, the range succession model has contributed to re- moving the problem of causation from the purview of the range management expert. Degraded pasture, no matter the cause, should be managed in such a way as to improve its productivity. One cannot control climate, but it may be possible to control livestock populations. By such reasoning, regulating livestock populations becomes more important than at- tempting to understand the complexities of degradation processes.

Complex ecology, highly fluctuating rainfall conditions, short-term funding, and the conceptual models underlying Western range management all contribute in different ways to the limited experimental study of grazing ecology in the Sahel. As a result, researchers have surprisingly little to say about the importance of grazing, let alone the biophysical pathways by which livestock actions affect vegetative productivity in the Sahel. In the absence of useful data, stocking rates are used as proxies for ecological stress. From field observations, perceived spatial relationships between "range condition" and stocking rate are used as evidence for, or against, grazing-induced degradation. Given the high spatial variability of rainfall (Filcroft, Milford, and Dugdale 1989), rainfall and grazing effects are hopelessly entangled in such perceptions.

The dominance of stocking rate as the major analytic variable to measure ecological stress has been shown to be both cause and symptom of scientists' limited knowledge of the biophysical processes leading to grazing-induced ecological degradation. The assumption that changes in stocking rates have a measurable effect on range productivity has not been validated by controlled research in the Sahel. It may be found that grazing pressure has a discernible effect only within a small portion of the range of stocking rates observed in the Sahel, or only in combi- nation with a particular series of climatic events (Ellis and Swift 1988; Westoby, Walker, and Noy-Meir 1989). Only research that does not accept the range succession model a priori, and controls for rainfall effects, can provide a more accurate characterization of grazing impact.

Truncation of Causal Linkages

As one of a number of ecologically important variables, stocking rate must be considered in any study of grazing- induced ecological degradation. Stocking rate is equal to the average number of animals grazing a rangeland over a defined time period divided by the surface area of the rangeland. The ecological relevance of a particular stocking rate value is highly influenced by its temporal and spatial scale. For example, an annual stocking rate averaged over a broad geographic region provides, very little ecologically relevant information. Even for livestock inventories conducted at finer spatial scales, the seasonality of the spatial distribution of livestock within the inventoried perimeter is as ecologically important as the overall stocking rate. The changing spatial distribution of livestock during the year is determined in large measure by the management of daily and seasonal grazing movements by livestock owners and herders. The management of grazing movements, in turn, is strongly affected by changing patterns of access to pasture resources, labor resources, and livestock wealth among livestock-rearing



406 ECONOMic GEOGRAPHY

households (Toulmin 1983; White 1984b; Turner 1992, 225-78). In this respect, changes in grazing movements are inti- mately tied to changes in the broader political economy.

Environmental analyses that focus solely on stocking rates, no matter what their spatial scale, oversimplify the biophysical aspects of vegetative response to grazing and exclude a whole realm of social causality within which grazing management is embedded. Ecological problems associated with grazing are seen simply as resulting from the imbalance between livestock population and range resources. Reducing causal structure to these two variables in effect "biologizes" the causal analysis. Dynamic characterizations of this population/resource balance most often treat the growth of livestock populations as solely a biological process, dependent solely on herd demography. The widespread implicit, and even ex- plicit, acceptance of this view among physical and social scientists has led to distorted views about the inherent sustainability of pastoralism, with tragic consequences for those livestock-rearing peoples chosen as development subjects.

Effect of the Market on Numbers of Cattle

The cattle population in the Sahel expanded tremendously during the 1950s and 1960s. Estimates of aggregate cattle population in four Sahelian countries (Sene- gal, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger) increased from 1950 to 1968 at an average annual rate of 11 percent per year (Le Houerou 1989, 126).2 The 1971-73 drought ended

this period of growth, with loss estimates for Sahelian countries ranging from 20 to 40 percent (Caldwell 1975, 20-22; Kates 1981, 32-34). Similar oscillatory patterns in livestock populations are observed in other arid and semiarid rangelands of Af- rica (e.g., McCabe 1987).

On the surface, such fluctuations re- semble those of some wild animal populations, prompting many analysts to characterize domestic livestock populations in Africa as controlled simply by livestock demography, range productivity, and climatic factors. Working from this premise, a proliferation of predator-prey and tragedy-of-the-commons formulations have been used in questioning the ecological sustainability of African pastoral systems (Noy-Meir 1975, 1978; Picardi and Siefert 1976; Ormerod 1978; Lamprey 1983; Simpson and Sullivan 1984; Sinclair and Frywell 1985). Such characterizations heavily influence the formulation of pastoral development policy. Extension efforts, such as inoculation programs, that simply improve the productivity of indigenous pastoral systems without transforming them are viewed as causes of overgrazing (Le Houerou 1989, 140). Pastoral development projects and policies often adopt much more aggressive postures, focusing on destocking, land privatization, and regional stratification of production (Del- gado and Staatz 1980; Sandford 1983; Homewood and Rogers 1987; Abel and Blaikie 1990). The failure of these at- tempts has led to the abandonment of pastoral peoples as subjects of development (Carr and Gritzner 1985; Interna- tional Livestock Centre for Africa 1987).

Treatment of the growth of livestock populations as a demographic process limited by disease and the primary production of Sahelian rangelands assumes that changes in domestic livestock populations are not significantly affected by the political economies of agropastoral societies. Despite the critical importance of these underlying assumptions to the overgrazing debate, they have attracted little direct scrutiny by social scientists. This may reflect the continued appeal of

2 Such estimates are suspect. Baier (1976) argues that as much as 30% of this growth is not real but due to the increased accuracy of the cattle surveys taken in conjunction with the first coordinated effort to eradicate rind- erpest in the mid-1960s. The growth rate would be closer to 8% after controlling for this rate of underreporting, still a remarkably high rate of increase.




"cattle complex" notions of pastoralist economic behavior (Herskovits 1926). This section shows that such characterizations of livestock population dynamics do not match the reality of the Sahel. Cattle are actively bought and sold in the Sahel. They are not valued solely as symbols of prestige, but for the economic benefits they provide as tradeable commodities, productive capital, and stores of wealth. The size of local cattle populations in the Sahel are therefore affected by changes in local, regional, and world economies. An awareness of the different economic roles played by livestock in rural communities deepens the analysis of changes in local stocking rates. I argue here that variations in cattle population growth in the Sahel reflect not only variations in biological productivity, but also variations in the balance between extra- and intraregional demands for cattle as consumptive goods (beef), stores of wealth, and productive capital (traction and dairy). Such a perspective provides the basis for a fuller characterization of the confluence of social and biophysical factors working to change levels of ecological stress on Sahelian pastures.

Cattle as Commodities

The East African literature on pastoralism has long been concerned with a perceived lack of a marketing outlook among pastoralists.3 Despite the adoption

of such views in West Africa, household- level surveys in the agropastoral zones of the Sahel find the contrary, that cattle are actively marketed in good times as well as bad, with average offtake rates of 10-13 percent during nondrought years (Sutter 1982, 1987; Wagenaar, Diallo, and Sayers 1986, 12; Grayzel 1990). These average offtake rates represent a high proportion of the total net productivity of cattle herds.4 Therefore, slight variations in offtake significantly affect growth rates of individual herds. Evidence from both herd structures and direct measures dem- onstrate that offtake rates vary with respect to the wealth of the owner, with richer owners marketing a lower fraction of their herds (King et al. 1984; White 1984a; Little 1985a; Sutter 1987; Grayzel 1990; Turner 1992, 162-63).

Not only are Sahelian cattle owners actively engaged in local cattle markets, but these markets are tied to regional trading networks supplying urban centers in, and to the south of, the Soudanian and Sahelian zones (Delgado and Staatz 1980). Although trade flows have increased throughout the colonial and postcolonial periods, as the demands for cash have increased among Sahelian peasants and the demand for meat has risen in countries to the south (e.g., Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria), this pattern of interregional trade is not new (Tricart 1956; Caldwell 1975, 149; Norris 1984). In many areas of the Sahel, such networks developed prior to colonial conquest and were most often present in agropastoral communities associated with precolonial states or along major trade routes to and from the Sahara (Doutressoulle 1952, 92; Baier 1974; Lovejoy and Baier 1975).5 Prior to

3 Various explanations have been suggested, ranging from a cultural veneration of cattle to a subsistence strategy in response to recurrent losses due to drought and disease (Dahl and Hjort 1976; Sandford 1982). Autarkic models of pastoralist economic behavior have more to do with the assumptions and perspectives of East African researchers than with reality (Dyson- Hudson and Dyson-Hudson 1980, 42-44). Recent research has shown that various pastoral groups are very much incorporated into regional markets, a long-standing phenomenon that deepened during and after the colonial period (Swift 1979; Cossins 1985; Little 1983, 1987).

'For any given herd, net productivity (births minus deaths) varies considerably from year to year. Estimates of average annual net productivities of transhumant herds in Mali have ranged from 10 to 17% during nondrought years (Wagenaar, Diallo, and Sayers 1986, 12).

5 Marguerite Dupire's (1962, 350) descrip-



408 ECONoMic GEOGRAPHY

the mid-1970s, as much as 85 percent of the meat demand in countries to the south was supplied by Sahelian exports (Delgado 1991), which represented at least a third of the average offtake from Sahelian herds. Cattle sold in local markets of the Sahel are either bought by a local investor and remain in the area or are bought by cattle merchants and exported from the region. The growth of cattle populations within rural regions of the Sahel is therefore a result of the interplay between the extraregional demand for meat, reflected in the prices cattle merchants are willing to pay, and local demand for cattle as stores of wealth and productive capital.6 Given the variability of these factors, along with differences in access to trade routes, the fraction of marketed cattle exported varies across years and localities in the Sahel.

Since the mid-1970s, the West African cattle markets have become much less dependent on Sahelian exports and much more influenced by world meat markets (Delgado 1991). The continued growth of meat demand, concerns about further supply disruptions, and the desire to

tion of the cattle marketing network in Niger is revealing in this regard: "In this poor territory, one is struck by the number and importance of markets and of the traditional trade routes, the most important being those for cattle and salt. The reason is that historically this region was the transit zone between the Sahara and the farming lands to the south. The Veterinary Service has registered 360 markets, more than half of which are situated in the central section, which is wealthiest in cattle. Their origins are not known, but according to the first Europeans who penetrated the interior of the country, the greater part of them existed before French occupation."

6 The "interplay" should not be viewed as a simple market equilibrium. Livestock markets are imperfect. Markets are highly volatile, buyers and sellers lack full information, export trade is heavily regulated, and merchants display cartel-like behavior (Bellot 1982). Nor is there any reason to believe that the response of livestock owners to price is positively sloped throughout the relevant price range.

reduce imports have led to a diversifica- tion of meat supply among major cattle- importing countries to the south. These countries made concerted efforts to develop their own livestock sectors to reduce their dependence on Sahelian beef. Since 1975, a significant fraction of meat demand to the south has been supplied first through beef imports from South America and later, since the mid- 1980s, through meat dumped by the European Economic Community (EEC). As a result, cattle exports of Sahelian countries are significantly affected by fluctuations in global beef markets (Inter- national Livestock Centre for Africa 1979; Delgado and Staatz 1980). Reduced extraregional demand for Sahelian beef would tend to increase the growth of cattle populations in the region. However, due to the large climate-induced fluctuations in cattle population during the past 15 years of recurrent drought, it is difficult to discern such an effect.

Cattle as Wealth

Much of the economic surplus controlled by rural communities in the Sahel is in- vested in livestock and the social relationships necessary to maintain, or gain access to, productive resources (Berry 1984, 1989). The distribution of cattle wealth within rural communities reflects local patterns of surplus accumulation. Changing control over economic surplus at the local level is likely to affect the export of cattle from the area as a result of differences among surplus- controlling groups in their proclivity to accumulate, need for cash, vulnerability to drought, interest in cattle as productive capital, and relative interest in cattle as wealth stores.

Control over economic surplus produced in rural communities has changed historically in the Sahel, resulting in significant changes in the distribution of cattle ownership. Because of the secrecy of local cattle transactions and the failure by investigators to distinguish the management from the ownership of cattle, little attention was given to changes in cattle ownership prior to the




1970s. Recent research has documented large shifts in cattle ownership, with a growing fraction of regional cattle wealth owned by nonherding groups (Gallais 1972, 1975; Toulmin 1983; White 1984b; Bonfiglioli 1985; Grayzel 1990). The present distribution of cattle ownership actually results from both long-term and relatively recent social processes.

From 1950 to 1970, transfers of wealth resulted in both a leveling and concentrat- ing effect on cattle ownership distributions. Former servile and tributary groups con- verted gains in their access to productive resources into cattle wealth (Starr 1987). At the same time, increased individualization and the erosion of moral economies within agropastoral communities led to a concen- tration of cattle wealth, reflected in the highly skewed distribution of cattle ownership across all social groups in the Sahel (Grayzel 1977, 134-35; White 1984a; Sow- ers 1986; Sutter 1987).

The years 1971-73 marked the begin- ning of a period of recurrent drought, char- acterized by sudden losses of wealth and oscillations in local prices for grain and livestock. This resulted in an economic dynamic different from that of the 1950s and 1960s. Cattle were accumulated by groups with incomes invulnerable to drought and by those positioned to benefit from the pre- dictable swings in grain and livestock prices across the drought cycle (Watts 1983; Clough 1986). The growth of herds owned by government officials, merchants, and rich farmers has been striking in some areas (Fricke 1979; Cisse 1981; Bonfiglioli 1985; Little 1985b). For the vast majority of Sahelian households, however, the last 20 years have been years of decapitalization. Changes in the distribution of cattle ownership have resulted from differential herd offtake and mortality rates, with the most economically vulnerable households losing the highest fractions of their cattle wealth.

The magnitude of local wealth transfers suggested by recent studies supports the view that local markets are active and that intraregional trade makes up a variable, but significant, portion of total trade flows. The accumulation of cattle among non-

herding groups demonstrates the widespread importance of cattle as stores of wealth (Schneider 1981). Changing levels and patterns of local accumulation affect both aggregate offtake rates and the balance between intra- and extraregional trade, thereby affecting the growth rates of the local cattle population.

Growth of Cattle Populations in the Maasina (1950-70)

This case study examines the contribu- tion of changes in the social structure of a particular agropastoral area in the Sahel to the rapid growth of its cattle population. The study area is the Maasina, a historically distinct area roughly corresponding to the western third of the Inland Niger Delta of Mali (Fig. 2). Cattle population data for the Maasina during the colonial and postcolonial periods are considered unusually reliable for the Sahel (Gallais 1967, 392).

As with other parts of the Sahel, the cattle population in the Maasina expanded rapidly from the mid-1950s through the 1960s. This resulted in a local stocking rate viewed as excessive by range ecolo- gists (Boudet 1972; International Live- stock Centre for Africa 1981). Although there are differences in opinion about long-term ecological consequences of the high stocking rates of the early 1970s (Haywood 1980; Gallais 1984; Turner 1992, 331-98), it does represent a period of unusually high ecological stress due to grazing. With recurrent drought and economic decline, the regional cattle population has not subsequently ap- proached these levels (Resource Inven- tory and Management 1987).

The expansion of the cattle population and high grazing pressure of the early 1970s cannot be explained solely by reduced mortality resulting from successful inoculation coverage and abundant rains. Using evidence from existing ownership distributions, reconstructions of cattle wealth histories of local informants, and the written observations of colonial officials, I argue that the expansion of



410 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

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Figure 2. Map of the Mali Republic showing major hydrologic features and towns. Shading represents seasonally flooded areas; hatching represents the Maasina floodplain.

cattle populations would not have been as great if not for substantial changes in resource access and surplus control.

Introduction to Study Area

The Inland Niger Delta (Delta) is a 20,000 square kilometer floodplain fed by the Ni- ger and Bani rivers in the Sahelian zone of Mali (Fig. 2). It is one of the most important livestock and rice-growing centers of West Africa. The Delta region receives sparse and variable rainfall from June through Octo- ber. Long-term average annual rainfall varies from 400 to 650 millimeters, increasing from north to south. This places it squarely within the southern portion of the Sahelian bioclimatic zone. The Delta's location within such a zone has made it an important mul- tipurpose resource for many different occu- pational and ethnic groups. Fisherfolk, rice

cultivators, and cattle herders all utilize the floodplain during a portion of the year.

Rice cultivators constitute the majority of the population. The major rice-growing ethnic groups are the Marka (Nono), Songhay, and, most importantly, the Rimaype, former slaves of the Delta Fulpe. The dominant form of rice cultivation in the Delta is per- formed without local flood control or use of fertilizers and pesticides (Viguier 1937; Gos- seye 1982). Plowing is by animal traction and hoe. Yields are variable, but generally quite low (around 500 kilograms of paddy per hectare).

Herds managed by different Fulpe (Fulani, Peul, Fula, and others), Kel Tamashek (Touareg), Bella, and Maure groups use the Delta floodplain as dry- season pasture (November-June). These herds are largely composed of cattle, but sheep, goats, and donkeys are not uncom-




mon. The Delta represents one of the most important dry-season pastures in Africa, with one of the highest regional cattle densities in West Africa (Interna- tional Livestock Centre for Africa 1981, 5; Resource Inventory and Management 1987, 69-71). Approximately 1.5 million cattle converge on the floodplain at the end of the rainy season, moving toward its more deeply flooded areas as the dry season progresses. Pastures of the Delta are controlled by the Delta Fulpe clans, who grant access to outsiders.

The pastoral economy of the Delta has long been oriented toward trade, with foodstuffs supplied to desert-side market towns through the Jenne-Timbuctu trade route (Cissoko 1968; Brown 1969, 190; Lovejoy and Baier 1975; Winters 1981). The proximity of dry-season pastures to these regional trade centers has led to the integration of local livestock markets into regional trading networks. A web of cattle markets located near dry-season pastures supplies regional markets (de Beauminy 1914; Doutressoulle 1952, 92; Jourdain, Drahon, and Revillon 1960). Over the past 30 years, estimates for cattle herds in the Delta consistently find herd offtakes to be around 12 percent (Gallais 1967, 410-11; Coulomb 1972; Delgado and Staatz 1980; Wagenaar, Diallo, and Sayers 1986, 12).

Prior to colonial conquest, local political and military power in the Maasina had been held by Fulpe clans for close to five cen- turies. During this period a complex hierarchical social structure developed, sup- ported by war booty and the surplus generated by a servile agricultural class. A large number of serf/slave categories existed, differing with respect to economic and social status (Brown 1969, 115). The productivity of the slave economy allowed the Fulpe elite to support large classes of artisans, griots, and islamic clergy.7

Early in the colonial period, negotiations led in 1908 to an agreement between Maasina slaves and the Fulpe elite abolish- ing many of the servile obligations (Marty 1920, 278). In their role as brokers, the French attempted to engineer a transition from a slave economy to a sharecropping economy, with former slaves (Rimaype) ob- ligated to provide a one-sixth harvest share, as land rent, to their former masters. Other provisions of the agreement greatly weak- ened the leverage of the "landowners" by requiring former masters to provide the Rimayf3e with agricultural land, thus elim- inating their ability to alienate land. Along with a reduction in the cohesion and power of landowning FulIe clans during the colonial period, this gradually led to the weak- ening of their control over agricultural usu- fruct.

As a result, the Rimaype gained greater control over access to land and over their economic surplus. The practice of giving harvest shares to FulIe gradually changed during the colonial period from obligation to license, where Rimaype give gifts to Fulfe of their choice for friendship or political reasons. As late as the 1950s and 1960s, some Rimayfe continued to volun- tarily provide harvest gifts to Fulpe during good harvest years (Forget 1963, 170). With the droughts of the early 1970s, however, this practice became rare.

Present Distribution of Cattle Wealth

Virtually all cattle owned in the Maasina are found in Fulpe-managed herds. In or- der to quantify the existing ownership distribution of Maasina cattle, 18 herds managed by a particular Fulpe clan were surveyed during 1988-89. Due to the sen- sitivity of cattle ownership information, the owner of each cow was never named by Fulpe informants but identified solely by ethnicity and village. Informants were also asked to identify, for each owner, the source of income used to purchase cattle, as well as the age of these investments. Close to two thousand cattle were enumerated in the 18 surveyed herds.

Eighty-six percent of the cattle are not

7Griots in the Maasina are often members of artisan castes who provide various services to nobles, including recounting and praising noble lineages, storytelling, resolving disputes, and facilitating business transactions.



412 ECONOMIc GEOGRAPHY

owned by the members of the 18 herding families, but are entrusted to them by outside owners (Fig. 3). The distribution of cattle ownership among the major social groups of the Maasina provides a record of the changing structure and productivity of the regional economy. As shown in Table 1, the majority of the cattle surveyed in this study are old wealth-that is, cattle remaining from initial investments made before the 1973 drought. This reflects the stagnation of the Maasina economy during the past two decades of recurrent drought. Only

those who have obtained surplus from outside the region (labor migrants) or have ex- tracted surplus from a large group of rural producers (government officials and merchants) made cattle investments during the economically troubled 1972-89 period.

As shown in Figure 3, Rimay3e own the largest share of entrusted cattle, since they represent the largest fraction of the local population (54 percent of the adults in the surveyed clan's village). Sources of Rimaype wealth are fairly evenly split between rice cultivation and remittances

FAMILY- "Flerd 14" (3%) OWNED CATTLE - Herd 18* (6%)

(14%) Other 16 Herds (5%)

Social Gro040 Wealth Source of Owners of Owners

TOTAL (18 Herds) Livestock-

(1960 Head) Rearing Cattle (5%) FulBe Sheep (5%) (18%) Unidentif ied (8%)

ENTRUSTED Rice (13.5%) CATTLE RimayBe Labor Migration (1 1.5%)

(86%) (32%) Unidentified (7%)

Rice (4%) Taxes (6%)

Others Trade (8%) (36%) Tithes/begging (12%)

Crafts (4%) Unidentified (2%)

Figure 3. Ownership distribution of the surveyed cattle population across major social groups subdivided by wealth source. "Others" refers to islamic clergy, artisan castes, cattle merchants, Sorogo fisherfolk, nonherding Fulle', and government officials. The "trade," "begging/tithes," and "crafts" categories of wealth source are dominated by cattle trading, tithes to islamic clergy, and blacksmithing respectively. Percentages are expressed in terms of the total cattle population.




Table 1

Numbers of Cattle in Surveyed Herds Classified by Age and Source of Investment

Income Source for Investment

Age of Investment Rice Cultivation Labor Migration Animal Husbandry Tithes to Clergy

1983-88 4 (2)a 12 (10) 1 (1) 0 (0) 1973-82 38 (15) 12 (10) 9 (7) 6 (4) pre-1973 219 (84) 95 (80) 115 (92) 157 (96)

Note: Distribution of investment age varies significantly by the source of income for investment (Pearson chi-square = 49.4, p < .001). a Numbers in parentheses are column percentages.

from seasonal/semipermanent migration to countries to the south, most notably the Ivory Coast. The decline of the local rice economy over the past two decades and the resulting increase in out-migration by young men in search of work have resulted in a shift in the relative importance of these two sources of accumulation. While the wealth generated by rice cultivation generally predates the 1973 drought, remittances from labor migration represent a large portion of the little wealth accumulated since 1973 (Table 1).

Livestock-rearing Fulpe do not own a disproportionate share of cattle. Fulpe- owned cattle (entrusted and self-owned) represent 32 percent of all surveyed cattle (Fig. 3), which is only slightly higher than the fraction of Fulpe in the local population (25 percent of the adults in the surveyed clan's village). Cattle wealth generated solely by animal husbandry shows a similar age distribution to that of rice cultivation (Table 1). For the most part, cattle owned by individuals who depend on cattle husbandry were not bought during the period following 1973, but are descendants of pre-1973 property.

While cattle wealth is distributed fairly evenly across social groups, it is unevenly distributed within the social groups of the Maasina. Figure 4 shows the distribution of all cattle and owners within the 18 surveyed herds across six entrustment classes.8

At least 48 percent of the cattle population is owned by 10 percent of cattle owners, a group that represents only a small part of the total population. A small number of islamic clergy, government officials, and merchants own 70 percent of the entrusted cattle not owned by herding Fulpe or Rimaype (representing 30 percent of all entrusted cattle). It is within these groups that disproportionate amounts of wealth have accumulated. While most cattle accumulation among islamic clergy has not occurred re- cently (Table 1), government officials and merchants have continued to accumulate wealth. This reflects the relative invulner- ability of their incomes to drought and their ability to benefit from livestock trade and speculation.

Despite the growing importance of merchant/government official ownership, cattle ownership today is much more widely distributed across all social groups than it was in the precolonial period, when the noble Fulpe and islamic clergy were the major cattle owners. Historical reconstructions of inheritances within this Fulpe clan show that much of their cattle wealth was lost before the 1970s, with losses over the whole period attributed equally to cattle deaths and sales to buy grain. This suggests that significant shifts in the ownership of the Maasina cattle population occurred prior to,

8 Entrustment size cannot be viewed as equivalent to ownership size, because larger owners are more likely to entrust their cattle

among a number of different herds (within and outside the 18 surveyed). For this reason, the distribution of entrustments, as reported here, is likely to be more even (less skewed) than that of real cattle ownership.




300- 500

n ... ...... Owners Cattle 450

c 250- 40 o ....

1 400 -c I 0000 X1::: 350 JC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. 200~~~~~~~~~~~~~-5

LU 2??1 1 1 1 I I

L~300w . . . . . . . . ...- . . . . . . . . .

@3 150- 250 0 B~~~~~~~. .. .. f.. ...,.,.:

O 200 0

t 100- 150 c

n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E 50X | I I | I I f; | | | I - 100 E ?50 z

50

1-3 4-6 7-9- 10-19 20-29 >29 Entrustment Class (number of cattle)

Figure 4. Numbers of owners and cattle found within six entrustment size classes.

or concurrent with, the rapid growth of cattle populations during the 1960s. A more detailed historical analysis of wealth transfers and accumulation is required to deter- mine whether the expansion of the cattle population was due in part to changes in the allocation of surplus accumulation.

Changes in the Allocation of Economic Surplus and the Growth of the Maasina Cattle Population

The historiography of cattle ownership and accumulation is extremely difficult to outline for the Sahel, given the lack of quan- titative data concerning cattle populations, trade flows, and cattle ownership. While cattle population estimates for the Maasina are thought to be more accurate than else- where in the Sahel, there are few reliable data concerning trade flows and cattle ownership. Anecdotal information gleaned from historical documents, along with knowledge of precolonial and present-day distributions of ownership, are therefore used

to reconstruct the history of local transfers of cattle wealth in the Maasina and to eval- uate their effect on the observed growth of cattle populations from 1950 to 1970.

Prior to the 1940s, investment in cattle by Rimay3e and caste groups was limited.9 The Fulre and clergy elite still controlled the vast majority of Maasina cattle. De-

9 Procurement of livestock by caste groups and Rimaype most certainly occurred to some extent during the early colonial period. For example, Marty (1920, 275) states that, through cattle entrustments, "the Rimay3e are forming small cattle herds and buying horses and donkeys" (my translation). However, references to cattle accumulation among Rimay3e and caste groups were rare until the 1940s, when observers first noted more widespread accumulation among these groups. Jourdain, Drahon, and Revillon (1960, 312), referring to the growth in Rimaype demand for cattle, note: "this is a relatively new demand (two decades) that has influenced the character of the markets to a remarkable extent and will grow in the future" (my translation).




spite the successful cattle inoculation programs of the colonial Service de l'llevage, which began during the 1930s and even- tually reached most Maasina herds by 1945, there was no net growth in the cattle population from 1930 to 1951 (Fig. 5). The lack of growth was due in large measure to colonial confiscation of cattle, which led to considerable losses of Fulf3e-owned cattle, especially during World Wars 1 and 2 (Dra- hon 1949; Gallais 1967, 396). Inhabitants of the Maasina also attribute the lack of growth in cattle populations during the early colonial period to a lack of interest in cattle accumulation (hakille jow'di) among landholding Fulre clans. These clans used a substantial portion of the surplus ex- tracted from their slaves and from outside clans seeking access to floodplain pastures to support the livelihood of a dependent group of griots, islamic clergy, weavers, sil- versmiths, and goldsmiths.

Initial cattle investments by Rimayfe were spurred by their rapid adoption of the plow (Fig. 5). By 1957, close to half of all Rimay3e families in the Delta owned at least one plow (Mission Socio-Jtconomique du Soudan 1961, 10). It is difficult to ascertain from available documents the factors behind this phenomenal rate of plow adoption. The completion of the initial irrigation network of the Office du Niger at the end of the war did lead to renewed colonial efforts to introduce the plow into the region. How- ever, the rapid rise in plow adoptions was not driven solely by invigorated extension efforts. Gallais (1967, 232) quotes an agricultural administrator in 1934: "plow agriculture is far from being favored by rice cultivators of Mopti.... It is certain that at present nine-tenths of the available plows could only be placed by force." Gallais (1967, 232) quotes the same administrator as stat- ing in 1945: "there are presently several thousand requests for plows pending in the Delta" (my translation). The abrupt change in the demand for plows among Rimaype resulted in part from the erosion of the Ful3e-Rimayp3e sharecropping arrangement brokered by the French (Gallais 1959, 19). The economic ramifications of FulfBe losing control over Rimay3e economic sur-

plus are suggested by observations con- tained in a 1950 administrative report (my translation; Rapport de Tournee 1103, I-E- 40, FR, Archives Nationales du Mali): "The Rimay3e are often owners of livestock, not only small livestock, but cattle. Even though the Fulani nobles still retain the majority of livestock, they are moving towards impov- erishment while the casted groups ... and the Rimaype are growing richer beyond a doubt." Greater access to land and increased control over agricultural surplus gave the Rimaype the economic means and incentive to purchase plows and cattle.

In the late 1950s, Rimay3e made up 46 percent of the Maasina population, whereas Fulp3e, islamic clergy, and artisan caste groups together represented 30 percent of the population (Mission Socio-Economique du Soudan 1963). Even modest levels of per capita accumulation of cattle among Rimay3e would therefore have a significant effect on local stocking rates. A household economic study conducted in the Delta in the late 1950s found that the incomes of plow-owning Rimay3e significantly ex- ceeded their expenditures but failed to account for the discrepancy (Mission Socio- 1]conomique du Soudan 1961, 41). A review of the methodology used in this study suggests that the gap was most likely a result of these researchers' failure to account for Rimay3e cattle purchases (Gallais 1967,407). The economic surplus results not only from plow ownership but, on a deeper level, from a greater interest in accumulation rather than consumption and/or redistribution within the community. The increased interest in accumulating cattle wealth (hakille jow'di) has been described by local informants as a distinguishing characteristic of early non-Fulp3e cattle owners.

The rapid conversion of Maasina agriculture to animal traction, along with growing evidence for accumulation of cattle among nonherding groups, occurred at the onset of a period of remarkable growth in the Maasina cattle population (Fig. 5). This expansion occurred during a period of relatively limited growth of human populations in the Maasina, with annual growth rates during the period ranging from 0.7 to 0.9




200 (3)1 45

180 1 [ ok Cattle Population Number of Plows (4) |4000

160,

C 140- Broad Inoculation o Coverage Achieved 30

-0120- 'a .Y o Co 100-

poplaio esimte were adpeErmDao 14)fr14 n 93 al 16,35 o

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10

40

1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 Year

Figure 5. Growth in the numbers of cattle and plows in the Maasina (1940-70). Sources: Cattle population estimates were adapted from Drahon (1949) for 1942 and 1943; Gallais (1967, 395) for 1945, 1951, and 1957; and Coulomb (1972, 59) for 1970. Numbers of plows in 1945-56 were derived from Gallais (1967, 232). The number of plows in 1970 were estimated from the total for the Delta multiplied by the 1956 ratio of Maasina/Delta plows (Gallais 1984, 188).

percent (Gallais 1984, 185; Turner 1992,45- 52). Even after taking into account certain deficiencies in the data, the 7.5 percent average annual growth rate of the cattle population in the Maasina between 1957 and 1971 cannot be explained by a reduction of mortality due to increased inoculation coverage nor to an increase in fecundity. The higher rate of regional cattle growth must in part be due to a lower rate of net exports from the region.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the local demand for cattle was quite high during the 1950s and 1960s, with local prices ex- ceeding those prevalent in the export markets. For example, a local administrator ob- serving the Tenenkou cattle market in 1955 notes: "Price levels at the first Tenenkou markets are higher than those last year. A steer weighing 350-375 kg sells for between 15,000-16,000 francs. These prices are somewhat inexplicable since the cattle merchant himself states that the cattle prices in the Ivory Coast and the Gold Coast are

very low" (my translation; Revue Trimest- rielle, 2/20/1955, Cercle de Macina I-E-40 FR, Archives Nationales du Mali). A significant part of these intraregional exchanges were from herding Fulpe to other groups (Gallais 1967, 409).

In sum, historical changes in the distribution of cattle ownership within the Maasina reflect the changing structure of the regional economy. A hierarchical class structure, determined largely by ethnicity and caste, evolved toward a capitalist system in which ethnicity plays a lesser role in determining the control of surplus. Of critical importance was the changing control over agricultural surplus as the sharecropping arrangement, brokered by the French, eroded during the first half of the colonial period. This trend accelerated after inde- pendence, as the state more actively sup- ported the land claims of rice cultivators against the Fulpe elite. As Rimaype pay-




ments to their former Fulpe masters became increasingly symbolic, new accumulation strategies of the more numerous Rimaype influenced the livestock sector. Ag- ricultural surplus was freed from being used to maintain and gain access to land. Surplus control shifted from the Fulpe elite, who spent a large fraction on supporting their griotts, clerics, and artisans, to a larger number of Rimaype, whose moral economy dis- couraged conspicuous consumption. Increas- ing individualism and material accumulation among the Rimaype led to a growing interest in covert accumulation in the form of cattle.

The lack of serious droughts and epidemics during the 1960s created the biological conditions necessary for the rapid expansion of the Maasina cattle population. The evidence presented above supports the argument that changes in the local patterns of accumulation led to an increase in local demand for cattle as stores of wealth and productive capital relative to the effective demand for meat in export zones. This resulted in a greater retention of cattle in the Maasina than would be ex- pected from regional market conditions alone (Stryker 1974). The cattle boom in the Maasina during the 1960s cannot be viewed solely as a result of biological pro- creation but is the result of the confluence of productive as well as social factors.

Conclusions I have examined problems associated

with the use of stocking rate as the major analytic variable in evaluating the ecological sustainability of animal husbandry in the Sahel. In so doing, I have shown that environmental analysts have often utilized conceptual models of ecology and society that do not match the reality of the Sahel. These models tend to "biologize" the etiology of grazing-induced degradation by ignoring, or greatly simplifying, the social processes affecting the timing and intensity of grazing pressure.

Through critical examination of such models, I have argued for a more complex causal model of grazing-induced degrada-

tion, in which social processes are neither ignored nor simply invoked as broad forces, but instead are explicitly tied to grazing ecology. Two mediating variables affect the timing and intensity of grazing pressure within a range area: livestock population and temporal-spatial distribution of livestock. Each in turn is affected by biophysical and social factors.

The temporal and spatial distributions of livestock on the range are determined by the grazing decisions of herders. Given the high mobility of Sahelian pastoral systems, grazing management is as important as regional livestock populations in affecting the timing and intensity of grazing pressure ex- perienced at particular range sites. Seden- tarization of these production systems will significantly alter the temporal and spatial patterns of grazing pressure. Of particular concern is the impact of the large shifts in cattle ownership from herding peoples to the more sedentary producers described above. The ecological ramifications of these shifts depend on the degree to which they translate into shifts in the control of day-today grazing management.

Given the widespread view that livestock population growth may be explained solely by bioclimatic factors, this paper has been most concerned with outlining the social etiology of changes in local livestock populations. The 1950-70 explosion of livestock populations in the Sahel has been previously described as resulting from better rains and broader inoculation coverage. In the case study presented here of the 1950-70 explosion of cattle population in the Maasina, rapid population growth was shown to result in part from changes in the allocation of economic surplus brought about by changing social relations between Fulpe nobles and Rimaype.

As illustrated by the case study, local and regional cattle populations are affected not only by biological conditions but by socioeconomic changes affecting interregional migration and trade of livestock. Given the widespread importance of cattle as local stores of wealth and as export commodities, analysis of the underlying dynamics of stock-




ing rates in the Sahel cannot focus only on herd demography or pastoral household economy. Changes in broader political economic processes have significant short- and long-term effects. The relative importance of local demand for cattle as stores of wealth compared with extraregional demands for beef affects stocking rates on local range. The internationalization of West African beef markets has increased the potential for world market fluctuations to affect cattle population growth rates on the Sahelian range. As a result, changes in stocking rates on Sahe- lian rangeland may be viewed as resulting from the interaction of a broad spectrum of potential factors, from rainfall variability to shifts in social relations in local villages to changes in EEC policies on beef exports.

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