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Quantitative Analysis of Drought Management Strategies across Ethnographically-Researched African Societies: A Pilot Study

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  • Stefano Biagetti

    (CaSEs–Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies (GAES), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa)

  • Debora Zurro

    (HUMANE–Human Ecology and Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Institució Milà I Fontanals for Research in the Humanities–Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC), 08001 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Jonas Alcaina-Mateos

    (CaSEs–Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08005 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Eugenio Bortolini

    (CaSEs–Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, Italy)

  • Marco Madella

    (CaSEs–Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies (GAES), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
    ICREA–Passeig Lluís Companys, 08010 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

In this paper, we present a pilot study aimed at investigating the impact of subsistence strategies and environmental pressure on the distribution of ethnographically documented strategies to cope with drought and its effects across 35 current societies in Africa. We use freely accessible ethnographic databases to retrieve data on how a number of African societies deal with the circumstances of drought, and ascertain the impact of geography on their distribution in order to measure possible relationships between them, a set of subsistence choices, and proxies of environmental constraints. We use Canonical Correspondence Analysis to explore the emerging patterns and find that subsistence strategy strongly impacts the choice of drought management strategies, especially if considered with a proxy of local environmental condition. Spatial proximity and aridity per se have only marginal impact, highlighting other relevant processes of cultural transmission that at least partly transcend (a) the intensity of human interaction over geographic gradients and (b) local adaptation primarily dependent on water availability. This study supports the wide applicability of quantitative and replicable methods to cross-cultural evidence on a variety of adaptive strategies and uses ethnographic data to propose new hypotheses that can inform future archaeological research by showing recurrent and non-case-specific choices highlighting resilient practices and adaptive behaviour in Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Biagetti & Debora Zurro & Jonas Alcaina-Mateos & Eugenio Bortolini & Marco Madella, 2021. "Quantitative Analysis of Drought Management Strategies across Ethnographically-Researched African Societies: A Pilot Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:10:p:1062-:d:652419
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zomer, Robert J. & Bossio, Deborah A. & Trabucco, Antonio & Yuanjie, Li & Gupta, Diwan C. & Singh, Virendra P., 2007. "Trees and water: smallholder agroforestry on irrigated lands in Northern India," IWMI Research Reports H041069, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Carla Lancelotti & Joan Negre Pérez & Jonàs Alcaina-Mateos & Francesco Carrer, 2017. "Intra-site Spatial Analysis in Ethnoarchaeology," Environmental Archaeology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 354-364, October.
    3. Zomer, Robert J. & Bossio, Deborah A. & Trabucco, Antonio & Yuanjie, Li & Gupta, Diwan C. & Singh, Virendra P., 2007. "Trees and water: smallholder agroforestry on irrigated lands in Northern India," IWMI Research Reports 53067, International Water Management Institute.
    4. Luana Micallef & Peter Rodgers, 2014. "eulerAPE: Drawing Area-Proportional 3-Venn Diagrams Using Ellipses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-18, July.
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