ABSTRACT
Thus we have posed the problem in terms of relations between nature and society. In so doing we have adopted, one after another, several analytical directions representing different angles of approach to the question. Drawing on the wealth of scientific literature concerning the five countries included in our study, and often forced to confront gaps in the research, we have taken pains to identify and to set out current knowledge and to derive from it some of the elements of description and analysis of the Sahelian reality. Thus we have successively considered the role played by demographic, economic, technical, social and cultural factors in determining the conditions for land occupation and natural resource use.
