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What determines agrarian settlement patterns? Glenn Davis Stone addresses this question by analyzing the spatial aspects of agrarian ecology--the relationship between how farmers farm and where they settle--and how farming and settlement change as population density rises. Crosscutting the fields of cultural anthropology, archaeology, geography, and agricultural economics, Settlement Ecology presents a new perspective on the process of agricultural intensification and explores the relationships between intensification and settlement decision making. Stone insists that paleotechnic ("traditional") agriculture must be seen as a social process, with the social organization of agricultural work playing a key role in shaping settlement characteristics. These relationships are demonstrated in a richly documented case study of the Kofyar, who have been settling a frontier in the Nigerian savanna. The history of agricultural change and the development of the settlement pattern are reconstructed through ethnography, archival research, and aerial photos and are analyzed using innovative graphical methods. Stone also reflects on the limits of ecological determination of settlement, comparing the farming and settlement trajectories of the Kofyar and Tiv on the same frontier.
This pioneering and celebrated work was the first, and remains the standard, account of the economic history of the huge area conventionally known as West Africa. The book ranges from prehistoric times to independence and covers the former French territories, as well as those colonised by the British. It criticises conventional beliefs about economic backwardness, offers an alternative account that explains the particular configuration of poverty that characterised the pre-colonial period, and assesses the consequences of the region’s interaction with the wider world – from the growth of the Saharan and Atlantic trades to the rise and demise of colonial rule. This edition contains a substantial new Introduction that discusses the development of the subject during the past 50 years, evaluates the debate over the original interpretation, and provides a valuable guide to additional reading, bringing the reader up to date with current scholarship on the subject, as well as providing avenues for further independent research. Appearing at a time when the study of African economic history is enjoying a revival and is engaging economists as well as historians, the book fills a large gap in African studies, provides newcomers with a stimulating point of entry into the subject, and contributes to our understanding of wider issues of global underdevelopment.
This volume is the result of a group of researchers applying their insights and experience to a common theme. All the authors are con-cerned with rural development in Africa and all have focused on the con-nection between the development process and the arrangement of people and their built environment in rural space. Both anthropologists and geo-graphers have contributed to the dialogue on this subject and represen-tatives of the two disciplines are included in this volume. The members of this group have never all been in the same place at the same time, and so have utilized various electronic modes of commu-nication to link their locations around the world. Two conferences were organized, however, among a subset of the whole, in order to generate a group discussion. One of these meetings was a symposium on African rural development held at Temple University while a second was orga-nized at the African Studies Association Meetings in Toronto. Both opportunities helped raise issues that found their way into individual chapters. The audience in each case further stimulated our thinking.
Originally published in 1969, the contributors to this volume examine the natural and social environments of selected areas in Africa and study in detail some particular problems and their solutions. Climate, landforms, soils and vegetation are discussed as fundamental aspects of the physical environment. The next section discusses the social and political environment: demography, agricultural systems and the legacies of colonial administration. Case studies in Malawi, Nigeria, Sudan, Eswatini and Kenya are analysed. The book is aimed at students of African studies, geographers and agriculturalists.
Originally published in 1975, this volume examines conceptual and theoretical aspects of the study of internal migration, both in chapters dealing specifically with theory and data and in case studies. The book discusses the question of who migrates, and why and what are the patterns of flow and direction of movement. The consequences of migration are analysed. Migration is one of the most difficult components of population change to conceptualize and measure and this book considers a wide range of aspects of migration and the problems connected with it.
This book is based on an extensive field work in which the author tried to study the customary law of property of an African agrarian tribal community of Āma - also known as Nyimaŋ - of the Nuba Mountains in the northern Sudan. The writer has tried to explain the nature of property holding in the light of the people's philosophy evidenced in their social structure and their traditional beliefs. Special attention is paid to the traditional structure of political leadership in this highly segmented society that was prone not only to inter-tribal wars but was also in a constant 'fission and fusion' among themselves when not at war with other neighboring tribes. In discussing jurisdictional issues, and traditional settlement mechanisms based partly on law and custom, both adopted by this egalitarian society, the study is made currently relevant by keen observation on the effect of modernity on traditional ethics and morality of the Āma society that was once described by some authors as being 'impervious to foreign influence". Furthermore, the reception and assimilation of the state law together with the Shari'ah laws in various areas such as that relating to property devolution, family institution, and burial rites is treated as being of great significance in the overall development of the tribal customary laws. Like any other Nuba tribe, the consciousness of the Āma people of their ethos of identity marks their ferociously guarded customs and traditions prevalent up-to-date. The book is not only a precious academic endeavor full of keen observations, in depth study and analysis of tribal customary laws of property; but is also a memoir for the author to commemorate formidable tribal group of the Āma people in the Nuba Mountains of the Sudan.
First published in 1973. This is the fifth issue in the series and covers the years 1967 and 1968. Books and pamphlets have been considered as published in the United Kingdom when their publishers are listed in Whitaker's Publishers in the United Kingdom and their addresses. February 1971. This includes many foreign publishers. mainly American. who have branches in the United Kingdom and whose publications are listed in the British National Bibliography. Books published abroad and distributed by British publishers are not included.
This book offers perspectives on how to develop a sustainable global balance of urbanization, land-use intensification, land abandonment, and multifunctional cultural landscapes. The focus is on the latter by describing the large variety of traditional cultural landscapes having evolved through centuries or even millennia by the use of the natural, terrestrial and aquatic resources. Those cultural landscapes encompass pasture, agroforestry, terraced, irrigation, coastal, monastic, and sacred landscapes as well as lake-, river-, and saltscapes. The restoration of low-input land-use systems which often carry a high biodiversity on the species, ecosystem, and landscape level as well as agrobiodiversity and agrodiversity is outlined. The restoration of multifunctional and diverse landscapes, however, is not only an ecological issue but encompasses many socio-economic aspects such as e.g., the revitalization of villages, eco-tourism, healthy food production, infrastructure, and rural-urban partnerships. Global environmental problems, which are related to urbanization and the intensification of the use of land and water resources are comprehensively outlined. Land abandonment which occurs on all continents is qualitatively and quantitatively assessed and the consequences for natural and cultural heritage loss is highlighted. With the presentation of current rural development and landscape conservation strategies on the national as well as international level, the topic reflects the high significance of environmental policy on the global scale. The global implementation of natural and cultural heritage conservation is, for example, given by the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, National Parks, Biosphere Reserves, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Sites, High Nature Value Farmland, and the Satoyama initiative. However, also the “every-day” landscapes can contribute to biodiversity and strong sustainability. This comprehensive compendium, based on about 4,000 references of scientific studies, literature reviews, project reports, and environmental policy papers is thought for all students, scholars, and stakeholders from multifaceted disciplines, interested in multifunctional cultural landscapes and how traditions and innovation on the landscape level can be merged for a sustainable future on our planet. Case studies from all over the world are presented which can be used in Higher Education or to demonstrate the numerous approaches of sustainable rural development.