Assessment of the Adaptation Strategies in the Pastoral Community of Velingara Ferlo, Senegal in the Context of Land Dynamic and Drought

Abstract

Climate, weather events and land dynamics play a major role in pastoral management. This study examines various adaptation strategies used by herders in the Velingara Ferlo area of Senegal in the face of multiple effects of drought and land dynamics of traditional extensive rearing areas. The approach used for this study range from socio-economic survey of 200 households using questionnaires to Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and interview. All these were combined together to determine the effects of drought, agriculture and settlements expansion on pastoralism and adaptation methods used in the area. The long-term mean annual rainfall data of 2002 to 2017 obtained from the National Agency of Civil Aviation and Meteorology, Senegal was used for the computation of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) for the classification of drought intensity and severity. Analyses of land use and land cover maps were carried out with the use of GIS and remote sensing. Semi-supervised classification techniques were applied to evaluate changes that have taken place over 30 years. Outcome of FGD, demography, number of conflicts and bush fire trends were compared to land dynamic in order to appreciate the adaptation strategies of Pastoralists. The results revealed that, droughts are becoming increasingly severe with it attendant negative impacts on the livelihood of pastoralists while agriculture (crop planting) expansion is taken more grazing land areas. Based on the above, herders have resorted to several adaptation strategies ranging from traditional to modern methods. Traditional adaptation methods include mobility for water and pasture, herd and income diversification while the modern adaptations focus on the creation of pastoral structures, the creation of participatory management structure, reorganizing the land use and the production of biogas from animals’ excreta. The study recommends that the government should develop a comprehensive and total policy that will encourage pastoralism.