ABSTRACT
Rural areas in the savanna zone of West Africa have long been recognized as a major area of population movements which are characteristically short term, repetitive or cyclical in nature, and adjusted to the annual agricultural cycle. Rising population densities and land shortages in themselves are not sufficient to explain differences in rates of labour circulation. Experience from the Kano close-settled zone suggests that traditional farming systems may be successfully adapted to these conditions through intensification by altering the ratios of existing factors of production. The contrast between the rural economy of Kano, with its low rate of labour circulation, and Sokoto, where up to 50% of men of working age may be involved, can only be understood in terms of their respective histories and the ensuing locational advantages of the former. Despite the lower rainfall in Sokoto, environmental conditions in the two areas appear to offer similar opportunities to farmers.
