The legacy of Sahelian management: 1965-1988

Abstract

A review of NASA orbital photography and field reports from the Sahel illustrates the mixed record of attempts to manage regional hydrology in the face of changing environmental conditions. In contemplating the development of new water management projects designed to assuage the problems brought about by drought and the growing regional population, the various fates of these earlier attempts to control the changeable Sahelian environment should be recalled. Small-scale water management schemes may prove to be more resilient to climatic change in the Sahel than traditional large-scale engineering projects sponsored by Western nations and favoured by the central governments of Sahelian nations. -from Authors