Agricultural Land Use Dynamics in a Sahelian Environment—Does Reality Match Hypothesized Trends?

Abstract

The commonly held notion that marginal land, grazing areas or fallow land in the Sahel are increasingly brought into cultivation is discussed. Based on empirical evidence from three villages in the Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso, land use at the local level is discussed. Commonly accepted theories concerning forces driving land use changes are compared to observed trends. The key issues addressed are the change in acreage and location of cultivated land and the use of fallow in the agricultural system. It is concluded that land use dynamics at local level cannot be summarized as one single trend; that land use pattern has a strongly random element; and that only a multidisciplinary and hierarchical framework will really suffice to analyse land use dynamics.