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Population Growth and the Environment in Africa: Local Informal Institutions, the Missing Link

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  • Valentina Mazzucato
  • David Niemeijer

Abstract

Population and environment debates regarding Africa, whether Malthusian or Boserupian in nature, focus on population levels as the driving force behind the relationship between environment and society. This article argues, instead, that how people adjust to their rise in numbers is more important than are population levels. It focuses on the role of local informal institutions, such as land tenure systems, but also on customs, norms, and networks, and their change over time in mediating the relationship between people and the environment. The article is based on fieldwork conducted between 1995 and 1998 in the Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian zones of Africa, as well as on a review of colonial documents pertaining to the area written in the first half of the twentieth century. The article concludes that adaptations made to local, informal institutions within the past century have enabled an environmentally sustainable land use within the context of a rising population and growing scarcity of natural resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Valentina Mazzucato & David Niemeijer, 2002. "Population Growth and the Environment in Africa: Local Informal Institutions, the Missing Link," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(2), pages 171-193, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:78:y:2002:i:2:p:171-193
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1944-8287.2002.tb00182.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Ibrahim A. Adekunle, 2020. "On the search for environmental sustainability in Africa: the role of governance," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 20/078, African Governance and Development Institute..
    2. Diana Pop & Caroline Marie-Jeanne & Régis Dumoulin, 2023. "Socialium or the Financial Price of Social Responsibility [« Socialium » ou le prix financier de la responsabilité sociale]," Post-Print hal-04120305, HAL.
    3. Ibrahim A. Adekunle, 2020. "On the search for environmental sustainability in Africa: the role of governance," Working Papers 20/078, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    4. Zaal, Fred & Oostendorp, Remco H., 2002. "Explaining a Miracle: Intensification and the Transition Towards Sustainable Small-scale Agriculture in Dryland Machakos and Kitui Districts, Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1271-1287, July.
    5. Mark Moritz, 2010. "Crop–livestock interactions in agricultural and pastoral systems in West Africa," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 27(2), pages 119-128, June.
    6. Ibrahim A. Adekunle, 2020. "On the search for environmental sustainability in Africa: the role of governance," Research Africa Network Working Papers 20/078, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    7. Simona-Roxana Ulman & Costica Mihai & Cristina Cautisanu, 2020. "Peculiarities of the Relation between Human and Environmental Wellbeing in Different Stages of National Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Dison, A. B. & Wood, A. P., 2007. "Local institutions for wetland management in Ethiopia: sustainability and state intervention," IWMI Books, Reports H040691, International Water Management Institute.
    9. Nyangena, Wilfred & Sterner, Thomas, 2008. "Social Capital and Institutions in Rural Kenya: Is Machakos Unique?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-01-efd, Resources for the Future.

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