Doctoral Dissertation Research: Becoming Mobile Pastoralists: Desedentarization Among the Ful'be of Tanout, Niger

西非的游牧人口居住在世界上一些最容易发生风险的气候和自然环境中。 传统观点认为，游牧民为了逃避自然灾害和移动的生活方式的困难，将不可避免地定居下来。然而，在西非，某些富尔贝牧民对这些假设提出了质疑。 在尼日尔共和国塔努特区的观察表明，在过去二十年中，一些定居家庭完全放弃了耕种，转而从事纯粹的畜牧、移动的生计。 这个博士论文研究项目询问为什么以及如何这些家庭已经做出了这种生计转变，以及它是否增加或减少了他们的经济安全。 研究假设，这些家庭已作出理性选择，将向移动的畜牧业过渡作为一种风险管理战略，以努力改善生计保障。 转向移动的畜牧业的决定是在家庭内部谈判达成的，这一决定对妇女和男子、年轻人和老年人产生了不同的影响。 这项研究将有助于对当地人口如何利用流动性、社交网络和当地知识在动态和危险的环境中改善生计保障的一般理解。

Nomadic populations of West Africa inhabit some of the most risk-prone climatic and physical environments in the world. Conventional wisdom assumes that nomadic pastoralists will inevitably become sedentary in order to escape from natural hazards and the difficulties of mobile lifestyles. In West Africa, however, certain Fulbe pastoralists challenge these assumptions. Observations in Tanout arrondissement in the Republic of Niger suggest that over the past two decades, some sedentary households have given up cultivation entirely for a purely pastoral, mobile livelihood. This doctoral dissertation research project asks why and how these households have made this livelihood shift and whether it has increased or decreased their economic security. The research hypothesizes that the households have made a rational choice to transition to mobile pastoralism as a risk management strategy in an effort to improve livelihood security. The decision to shift to mobile pastoralism has been negotiated within the household and that decision has affected women and men, young and old differently. This research will contribute to general understandings regarding how local populations use mobility, social networks, and local knowledges to improve livelihood security in a dynamic and risky environment.