Land, Investment, and Migration

Thirty-five Years of Village Life in Mali

Camilla Toulmin

A longitudinal study of a single village and wider region which follows people and their families over 35 years
Explores the multiple forces and pressures at work in the Sahel, a region on the front-line of climate change, conflict, migration, and land grabs
Demonstrates the vigour and innovation found at village level in a poor region of West Africa
Offers a positive story of growth and change in the face of risks and uncertainty

Land, Investment, and Migration

Thirty-five Years of Village Life in Mali

Camilla Toulmin

Description

How do people survive and thrive in the uncertain and risk-prone Sahel? Land, Investment, and Migration seeks to answer this question through a long-term study of the people of Dlonguébougou in Central Mali. It uses a combination of infographics, satellite images, interviews, and survey data to present the strategies and fortunes of individuals and their families in this region over 35 years.

In the early 1980s Camilla Toulmin spent two years in Dlonguébougou. She has since revisited to explore how climate change, population growth, new technologies, and land-grabs have been affecting the livelihoods and prospects of local people since. Land, Investment, and Migration: Thirty-five Years of Village Life in Mali brings together her findings. A trebling in population, unpredictable rainfall, and the arrival of Chinese investment have forced people into new ways of making ends meet and building up wealth - some doing much better than others. This book presents the search for new cash incomes, the shift of people from village to town, and the erosion of collective solidarity at household and village levels.

Land, Investment, and Migration presents a mixed picture of a changing society. It shows the vibrancy of the village economy, rapid uptake of mobile phones and solar panels, and increased migration. It also shows the persistence of large family structures which offer some protection from the risks that many villagers face.

Land, Investment, and Migration

Thirty-five Years of Village Life in Mali

Camilla Toulmin

Land, Investment, and Migration

Thirty-five Years of Village Life in Mali

Camilla Toulmin

Author Information

Camilla Toulmin, Professor, Lancaster University, UK

Camilla Toulmin is a British economist, specialising on African agriculture, drylands, tenure and climate change. She became a Senior Associate at the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED) in 2017, after 12 years at its Director. She has been appointed Professor in Practice at the University of Lancaster's Environment Centre (LEC) and is currently an Associate at the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). She is the author of Climate Change in Africa (Zed Books, 2009) and Cattle, Women, and Wells: Managing Household Survival in the Sahel (OUP, 1992).

Land, Investment, and Migration

Thirty-five Years of Village Life in Mali

Camilla Toulmin

Reviews and Awards

"This book will be enlightening for all researchers, development practitioners and government decision-makers concerned with rural development in the Sahel, not only in Mali. It is a highly accessible book, as it explains discipline-specific vocabulary clearly. It is a comprehensive and detailed study in which a small village gives a vivid identity to rural people in the Sahel." - Ann Waters-Bayer, Agriculture and Human Values

"This book will be enlightening for all researchers, development practitioners and government decision makers concerned with rural development in the Sahel, not only in Mali. It is a highly accessible book, as it explains discipline specific vocabulary clearly. It is a comprehensive and detailed study in which a small village gives a vivid identity to rural people in the Sahel." - Ann Waters-Bayer, Springer

"In one neat volume Camilla Toulmin has documented the deepest historic change that humanity makes; the change from hand-to-mouth diurnal farming to modern agriculture...Toulmin is engaged, observing clinically but never pushing suggestions or urging change. She remains detached, giving us a glimpse of a disappearing African world and the birth of a new and challenging one." - Richard Dowden, Author of Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles, African Arguments