Pastoral Resiliency and Development: Lessons from Senegal

Abstract In this thesis I describe traditional herding strategies of Fulani transhumants in Senegal, and their adaptations to repeated droughts thought to be brought on by anthropogenic climate change. I also describe unique and novel risks associated with pastoralism in the face of these droughts. Furthermore, I attempt to reconcile these practices with broader arguments about development practices. Specifically, this research addresses these questions: 1. In what ways, if any have pastoralists been affected by climate change-induced drought? 2. What are some of their adaptation strategies and are these strategies effective? 3. What are pastoralists’ views on development? And what do they believe is the way forward? 4. How can this population and their unique experiences with climate change-induced drought inform us of the merits of planned versus unplanned development? Furthermore, I discuss the adaptations of these Fulani in the context of broader development, and I provide information on development history in the Sahel, Sahelian pastoralists, as well as competing theories of Western-led development programs seeking to eliminate poverty. Through my interviews in this study, I found that the pastoralists in question are struggling with a cycle of herd destruction from drought, and they have had relatively little experience with long range migration, unlike other pastoral groups. This is central to arguments about pastoral resiliency as a resource, as long range migration poses a considerable risk to their livelihood. Furthermore, I have found that communal resiliency strategies based around reciprocity, tend to fail in the face of a community wide disaster