Sahelian re-greening - merging a view from above with one from below

In the early 2000’s scientists noticed an increase in biomass production in the Sahel for the period 1982-2002 (a process which is referred to as ‘greening’). The goal of this thesis was to investigate the greening phenomenon at the local scale in 4 villages in south-central Niger and compare results of the investigation with the already available regional scale studies. Theoretical starting points for this study were: the micro-macro scale paradox in the Sahelian studies and the critical research about ‘received wisdoms’ and environmental narratives of African landscapes. Methods for this study were: visual interpretation of remote sensing data (aerial photographs and satellite images) and collection of farmers’ knowledge during a fieldtrip (PRA and personal interviews). This study identified that greening was not a uniform or strong process in four villages. Greening primarily concerned appearance of new trees, whereas big old trees continued to disappear. Not only rainfall was a reason behind greening, but also human factor played a substantial role. The greening phenomenon should be investigated critically, as far as its meaning for the affected land users is not clear