Village Life and Indigenous Resource Management in Savanna of West Africa

Abstract

A survey of indigenous resources and knowledge in a rural area has been carried out in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria for eight years, as a prelude to development of sustainable management system for the local resources that can provide a vital energy for village life. The village surveyed was Yamrat, located in Bauchi State in the Republic of Nigeria. The villagers have much indigenous knowledge of resource management for maintaining food production and village life, among which knowledge of the management of soil fertility and weather forecasting seem to be particularly important.

It can be said that the people depend on the ecological environment and indigenous knowledge for their livelihood. However, various problems such as population increase and depletion of resources also exist because of changes in the social and ecological environment.

Should we conclude simply that local environment resources have touched the bottom? Is it not wise to try again to utilize such valuable resources more efficiently?

This paper focuses on the results of a research project that was carried out to develop an integrated system that privileges local resources in order to sustain agricultural production and village society.