The example of the Nigerian savanna

  • In Nigeria terrace agriculture can mainly be found in the so called "Middle Belt Economy" as FORDE (1946)1 coined this type which lies between the grain economy of males in the north and tuber cultivation of females in the south. The people - lacking a hierarchically social and territorial organisation - are called acephalous or segmentary societies. From the geographical point of view the Middle Belt is seen as a zone of transition. Because of the variability of the climate (sometimes it is too wet for grains, sometimes too dry for tubers) a strategy of mixed cropping enables the farmers to overcome these hazards. Their strategy can be seen in the frame of the game theory. A low population density and a lack of sufficient accessibility limited the innovation of cash crops at that time. The papers on the Tangale-Waja Region will reveal manifold facets of the culture and agriculture. In a first step we learn by the research of J. Heinrich that the natural environment is - from the genetic point of view - a prerequisite for the establishing of terraces, but it is still today an important provision to the modern farmers in their resettlement areas.

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Werner FrickeGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-35427
Parent Title (German):Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs 268, 8.1996, S. 95-100
Series (Serial Number):Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs 268 (08, 095)
Publisher:SFB 268
Place of publication:Frankfurt, M.
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2006/12/18
Year of first Publication:1996
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2006/12/18
Volume:8
Page Number:5
First Page:95
Last Page:98
HeBIS-PPN:289467020
Institutes:Zentrale Einrichtung / SFB 268
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 63 Landwirtschaft / 630 Landwirtschaft und verwandte Bereiche
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht