THE DYNAMICS BETWEEN MIGRATION AND LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE (LULCC) IN BURKINA FASO: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY Elisabeth Kago Nébié A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s in Sociocultural Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology Chapel Hill 2015 Approved by: Colin Thor West Paul Leslie Charles Price © 2015 Elisabeth Kago Nébié ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Elisabeth Kago Nébié: The Dynamics Between Migration and Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) in Burkina Faso: A Comparative Case Study (Under the direction of Colin Thor West) In Burkina Faso, population pressure on land cover, fragmenting agricultural units and reduced rainfall have exacerbated land degradation. The long-term failure to balance human interferences and natural degrading processes with natural reproduction and restorative management efforts has initiated Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC). In northern Burkina Faso, land degradation has stimulated a large migration toward more fertile areas of the south. While northern provinces such as Bam Province in Burkina Faso are being rehabilitated by Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) projects, southern provinces, such as Sissili Province, considered more “pristine,” have been neglected. Recently, researchers have been highlighting the role of demographic pressure and agro-pastoral activities on land degradation in Sissili. However, comparative research between provinces of departure and destination has not yet been undertaken. This paper, informed by regional political ecology, integrates LULCC data with ethnographic and demographic information to compare the dynamics between migration and LULCC trends in Bam and Sissili. This comparison assesses whether these provinces are migration ‘sources’ or ‘sinks.’ The results show that migration correlates with LULCC and detect greater LULCC in in-migration areas and little LULCC in areas of out-migration. iii I dedicate this work to Yaba Adam Kaboré & Papy Georges Bamina Nébié iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thank you goes to those who believed in me and contributed to this paper: Dr. Colin Thor West, Dr. Paul Leslie and Dr. Charles Price for their patience, advice, and great efforts of supervising and leading me to accomplish this work; The Wenner-Gren Foundation and PEO International for the wonderful opportunity to study in the US; My family and friends for their daily support and encouragements; To all my informants for their time and thoughtful contribution. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF MAPS ....................................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 3: DESCRIPTION OF SITES AND COMMUNITIES .................................................... 13 A. Bam .............................................................................................................................................. 13 B. Sissili ............................................................................................................................................ 14 C. The Mossi and the Gurunsi: past and present bonds ............................................................... 14 CHAPTER 4: DATA AND METHODS ................................................................................................ 16 A. Census data .................................................................................................................................. 16 B. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data ............................................................................ 18 1. Land Use and Land Cover (raster): 1975 and 2000 .............................................................. 18 2. Land Use and Land Cover (vector): 1992 and 2002 ............................................................. 19 C. Ethnographic fieldwork .............................................................................................................. 19 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS ....................................................................................................................... 21 A. Census .......................................................................................................................................... 21 vi B. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps and graphs ...................................................... 23 1. LULCC over a short period of time: 1992 to 2002................................................................ 27 C. Ethnography ................................................................................................................................ 30 1. Participants focused on regions of degradation and greening ............................................. 30 2. Participants used local explanations ...................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 39 A. Sissili has been a migration sink: LULCC is dramatic............................................................. 39 B. Bam has been a migration source: LULCC is minimal ............................................................ 40 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 43 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................... 44 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Net Migration Trends of Bam and Sissili provinces from 1975 to 2006 ............................. 22 Figure 2: LULCC chart of Bam from 1975 to 2000 ............................................................................. 25 Figure 3: LULCC chart of Sissili from 1975 to 2000 ............................................................................ 26 Figure 4: LULCC chart of Bam from 1992 to 2002 ............................................................................. 28 Figure 5: LULCC chart of Sissili from 1992 to 2002 ............................................................................ 29 viii LIST OF MAPS Map 1: Burkina Faso (2006): Population Density by km2 and Isohyet Zones ..................................... 6 Map 2: LULC maps of Bam in 1975 and 2000...................................................................................... 24 Map 3: LULC maps of Sissili in 1975 and 2000 .................................................................................... 26 Map 4: LULC maps of Bam in 1992 and 2002...................................................................................... 27 Map 5: LULC maps of Sissili in 1992 and 2002 .................................................................................... 29 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Administrative regions of 1975 ............................................................................................... 18 Table 2: Origin and destination of lifetime in-migrants by province in 1985 ..................................... 23 Table 3: Lifetime Net Migration in Bam and its Surrounding Provinces in 1985, 1996 and 2006.... 23 Table 4: Evolution of the population densities in Sissili Province ....................................................... 40 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AVV Aménagement des Bassins de la Volta BUNASOLS Bureau National des Sols BF-WALULCT Burkina Faso Land Use and Land Cover Maps and Trends FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FEWS Famine Early Warning System GIS Geographic Information Systems IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IGB Institut Géographique du Burkina INSD Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie ISSP Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population LULC Land Use Land Cover LULCC Land Use Land Cover Change MA The Drylands Millennium Ecosystem Assessment OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development PASE Projet d'Accès aux Services Energétiques PATECORE Projet Aménagement des Terroirs et Conservation des Ressources PRRA Participatory Rapid Rural Appraisal UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNEP United Nations Environment Programme SWC Soil and Water Conservation WASCAL West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Land degradation is the product of a long-term process. The Drylands Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) defines land degradation as the “reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity of drylands” (Adeel, et al. 2005:1). Humans have been utilizing and managing land cover to satisfy their needs through hunting, farming, gathering or industrial activities. Land cover is the “observed