Environmental Decline and Ecological Response in the Upper Senegal Valley, West Africa, from the Late Nineteenth Century to World War I

Abstract

The upper Senegal valley of West Africa, like other areas of Africa, experienced a period of acute environmental decline and intense ecological response by residents from the late nineteenth century until World War I. French colonial strategies caused considerable disruption and dislocation, benefitting in many ways the colonial agenda which sought to regulate labor flows. African responses to the widening crisis, including movement within the region, migration to the peanut basin and the coast, and enlistment in the war effort, often served colonial interests while sometimes directly exacerbating the environmental degradation, necessitating constant ecological adaptation. This study of an early period of intense and well-documented physical decline, and the various strategies developed by West Africans to survive and overcome obstacles, can shed light on current environmental policy debates and issues.