ABSTRACT
That the degradation of vegetation and the erosion and overexploitation of soil in the Sahel are the manifestations of complex agro-ecological dynamics is no longer in dispute. The contested but convenient term, ‘desertification’, has been applied to this phenomenon, which can be linked to the combined effect of a certain number of objective factors: harsh natural conditions, increased demand for plant production (due to the combined effects of demographic pressure and economic constraints) and the introduction of new tools. However, the unequal form and intensity of these ecological changes, across different geographical locations (a diversity illustrated above, see Chapter 8), is inseparable from other realities that are of an immaterial nature and which concern the relations rural societies maintain with the environment they exploit. We can picture these as the collective means of control of a set of resources, as well as the, organisation of the procedures and means for their exploitation. These relations of production cannot be separated from the social system of which they are a manifestation. They reflect the fundamental principles that underlie the global relations among people.
