ABSTRACT

Drawing on over thirty years of research, this book investigates the intermingling of land and water in the Sahel, analysing landscapes defined by the ebb and flow of rainfall, flooding and population movements, as well as environmental, political and social crises.

Exploring both the seasonal flooding of rivers around the Nile, Chari-Logone, Niger and Senegal, as well as agricultural irrigation projects such as dams, canals and pumping stations, the book examines the different narratives related to water and land in the Sahel. It combines fieldwork research with remote sensing, big data and GIS mapping to outline the ever-changing interplay between land and water in the region. Beyond this, the book also reinterprets the colonial and post-colonial legacies of large-scale irrigation projects and the geopolitical interests which defined them.

Supported by an Open Access website with a WebGIS and further maps and analysis, this book is an essential read for policy makers and development practitioners in the region, as well as for researchers and scholars across the fields of geography, history, political science, sustainable development and African studies.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND) 4.0 license.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

Title
Perspectives on water and land in the Sahel: facing polycrisis
Size: 0.36 MB

chapter 1|47 pages

Setting the scene

Title
Unfulfilled futures—One hundred years of large-scale irrigation projects in the Sahel
Size: 0.88 MB

part I|46 pages

Contextual Issues

Title
Size: 0.62 MB

chapter 3|12 pages

Layered crises

Title
Climate change, water insecurity and irrigation in the Sahel
Size: 0.40 MB

chapter 4|13 pages

The “Glocal” nature of Jihadist insurgencies?

Title
Conflict, space, land and resources in the Sahel 1
Size: 0.38 MB

part II|108 pages

Cartographic Sketches of the Sahel

Title
Size: 1.15 MB

chapter 7|28 pages

Troubled waters

Title
Size: 2.06 MB

chapter 8|28 pages

Shapes of the water: the rectangle and the circle

Title
A tentative survey on irrigation in the Sahel
Size: 1.70 MB

chapter 9|8 pages

The breath and the cage

Title
Re-imagining the Sahel through mapping
Size: 0.47 MB

chapter |8 pages

Interlude

Title
The Sahel in historical atlases (1493–1789)
Size: 0.69 MB

part III|72 pages

Complicated Muddles of Water and Land

Title

chapter 10|29 pages

Sudan

Title
A ‘picture’ of irrigation spaces before April 15, 2023
Size: 1.57 MB

chapter 11|19 pages

Traces of irrigation

Title
Some recent developments in the Chadian region
Size: 0.79 MB

part IV|58 pages

Connections, Rights and Conflicts

Title

chapter 13|17 pages

Land and water rights in the Inner Niger Delta

Title
Between negotiation and conflict
Size: 0.97 MB

chapter 14|20 pages

Ségou(s), the Niger and the other side of the river

Title
How water tells the city in the Sahel
Size: 2.06 MB

chapter 15|19 pages

Changing patterns of resource conflicts in the Logone floodplains (Cameroon/Chad)

Title
Between actors' practices and development narratives
Size: 0.63 MB

part V|44 pages

Towards a Fluid Research Agenda

Title

chapter 16|21 pages

COVID-19, polycrisis and metamorphosis

Title
A reflection on doing collaborative research in, on and with the Sahel
Size: 0.43 MB