Examines tropical resource management in West Africa. Drawing widely on field examples, it argues that more account should be taken of ecological conditions and indigenous land-use methods in decision making about tropical management projects.
Environmental equilibrium and non-equilibrium; problems and prognosis - perspectives on agriculture at a regional scale; small holder adaptation - the humid domain; non-equilibrium and the cocoa sector in West Africa; unpredictable savannah environments; farming in the semi-arid domain - adaptation to an uncertain environment; rangeland and livestock management.
A useful contribution to the discipline. Its strength is the synergism the author has managed to evoke by combining a wealth of data and referenced material to support a well-argued thesis that weaves non-equilibrium ecology with indigenous farming practices in West Africa. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education The chapter order is logical and meaningful. In addition, each chapter can easily stand alone ... While consistency in argument is a primary characteristic of the volume, healthy and appropriate use of data is another hallmark ... sources are current and the documentation of references at the end of each chapter is certainly one of the book's chief assets. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education This book works well as an overview text and an introduction to the region's farming systems, illustrating the value of comparative analysis and the presentation of vignettes of particular farming systems and ecologies ... the book balances the much greater literature on West African political economy, politics, and agrarian history, in which ecological questions often take a back seat. African Affairs