The legacy of Sahelian management: 1965-1988
Wells, G.L.; Burke, K. (1990). The legacy of Sahelian management: 1965-1988, in: Paepe, R. et al. Greenhouse Effect, Sea Level and Drought. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Geohydrological Management of Sea Level and Mitigation of Drought, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Spain), March 1-7, 1989. NATO ASI Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 325: pp. 575-592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0701-0_36
In: Paepe, R. et al. (Ed.) (1990). Greenhouse Effect, Sea Level and Drought. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Geohydrological Management of Sea Level and Mitigation of Drought, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Spain), March 1-7, 1989. Digitized reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990. NATO ASI Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 325. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht. ISBN 978-94-009-0701-0. xix, 718 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0701-0, more
In: NATO ASI Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences. D. Reidel: Dordrecht; Boston; Lancaster. ISSN 0258-2023, more
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Document type: Conference paper
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| Abstract |
The Sahel undergoes episodes of extreme climatic change on timescales ranging from millennia to decades. Following a period of high rainfall in the 1950s, plans were initiated in the 1960s for a number of large-scale irrigation schemes based upon the assumption that climatic conditions of the 1950s and 60s were normal for the region and would persist into the future. Many of these projects were completed in the 1970s and early 1980s during a time of prolonged, intense drought. 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. |
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