DDRI: Charity or Mobility? Changing Response Mechanisms of Herders Faced with Severe Conditions of Famine in Northern Mali and Central Niger, 1968-2005

DDRI：慈善还是流动？

• 批准号: 0622892
• 负责人: Brent McCusker
• 金额: $ 1.03万
• 依托单位: West Virginia University Research Corporation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0622892&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DDRI; Charity; Mobility; Changing; Response

Diversification in African livelihood systems has been a growing phenomenon for the past forty years as people have moved from the countryside to the urban centers seeking formal and informal opportunities and, in extreme cases, food aid or other types of assistance. For some, however, the transition from rural to urban dweller has been difficult, as many face the problems of crime, unemployment, and obstacles in securing basic necessities such as food. This research examines pastoralists who have recently experienced famine in Mali and Niger and investigates how they have procured food in the past, how their strategies have changed over time and the forces that have prompted these changes. The study employs political ecology as a theoretical framework to identify the various actors that directly or indirectly affect pastoral responses to drought and famine. The concepts of power relations, access to environmental resources and vulnerability drive the relations pastoralists have with others and actions in their local communities. A pilot study will be conducted in northern Mali and central Niger to identify communities susceptible to famine by employing oral histories and structured interviews. The pilot data will then be compared against regional datasets such as the Famine Early Warning Systems and archival data to determine the relative intensity of such events in the study area versus the rest of the region and to determine whether or not the study sites might be considered representative of a broader set of pastoral communities across Sahelian west Africa. Localities that both reflect regional data predictions or archival evidence and ones that are different will be investigated further using semi-structured interviews of households to provide quantitative data used in comparison with the different study sites. Data from the semi-structured interviews will be categorized and compared through chi square analyses and regression analyses in identifying variance between the different regions. Finally, a global positioning system unit will be implemented in recording the past and present paths of mobility between different groups at these sites in Mali and Niger and this data will be compared both temporally within each field site and spatially between different study sites. The results of this study will contribute to the larger body of Sahelian studies by investigating and analyzing how pastoralists both historically and presently respond to food shortages, how these responses have changed, and the forces that have led to historical and current food shortages in pastoral societies. Information derived from this research will enhance geographic understanding of food security among pastoralists and provide suggestions for monitoring changes in food security and vulnerability in the drier regions of the Sahel. Regarding policy making, this study can affect policy direction in governmental projects (both local and national) involving pastoral communities by illustrating how unintended outcomes of policy decisions, while well intentioned, affect herders' abilities to respond to food crises. Also, given the very recent famines in both Mali and Niger, this type of investigation will update both the academic community and policy makers as to the status of often isolated pastoral communities. It will provide concrete suggestions for assisting such groups while ensuring their long-term food security and livelihood viability. Finally, the support provided through this award will further the dissertation and career goals of a promising doctoral candidate in the Geography program at West Virginia University.

过去40年来，随着人们从农村迁往城市中心，寻求正式和非正式的机会，在极端情况下，寻求粮食援助或其他类型的援助，非洲生计系统的多样化日益成为一种现象。然而，对一些人来说，从农村居民向城市居民的转变一直很困难，因为许多人面临着犯罪、失业和获得食物等基本必需品的障碍。这项研究调查了最近在马里和尼日尔经历饥荒的牧民，并调查了他们过去是如何获得食物的，他们的战略随着时间的推移发生了怎样的变化，以及推动这些变化的力量。该研究采用政治生态学作为理论框架，以确定直接或间接影响牧民对干旱和饥荒的反应的各种行为者。权力关系、获取环境资源和脆弱性的概念推动了牧民与他人的关系和在当地社区的行动。将在马里北部和尼日尔中部进行一项试点研究，通过口述历史和结构化访谈确定易受饥荒影响的社区。然后，将试点数据与饥荒预警系统等区域数据集和档案数据进行比较，以确定研究区域内此类事件相对于区域其他地区的相对强度，并确定研究地点是否可被视为代表整个萨赫勒西非更广泛的牧区社区。将对既反映区域数据预测或档案证据，又反映不同数据预测或档案证据的地点进行进一步调查，使用对家庭的半结构化访谈，提供与不同研究地点进行比较所使用的定量数据。来自半结构化访谈的数据将通过卡方分析和回归分析进行分类和比较，以确定不同地区之间的差异。最后，将使用全球定位系统记录马里和尼日尔这些地点不同群体之间过去和现在的流动路径，并将在每个实地地点内和在不同研究地点之间在时间上和空间上比较这一数据。这项研究的结果将有助于更广泛的萨赫勒研究，调查和分析牧民在历史上和现在是如何应对粮食短缺的，这些反应是如何改变的，以及导致牧民社会历史和当前粮食短缺的因素。这项研究提供的信息将加强牧民对粮食安全的地理了解，并为监测萨赫勒干旱地区粮食安全和脆弱性的变化提供建议。关于政策制定，这项研究可以通过说明政策决定的意外结果如何影响牧民应对粮食危机的能力，从而影响涉及牧区社区的政府项目(地方和国家)的政策方向。此外，鉴于马里和尼日尔最近发生饥荒，这种类型的调查将使学术界和政策制定者了解经常与世隔绝的牧民社区的最新状况。它将提出具体建议，帮助这类群体，同时确保他们的长期粮食安全和生计能力。最后，通过该奖项提供的支持将促进西弗吉尼亚大学地理学专业一名有前途的博士候选人的论文和职业目标。