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Indigenous responses to drought in sub‐Saharan Africa *
Author(s) -
Fleurett Anne
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.1986.tb00592.x
Subject(s) - indigenous , economic shortage , agriculture , geography , food shortage , socioeconomics , agroforestry , ecology , government (linguistics) , biology , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology
Drought is a frequent occurrence in contemporary sub‐Saharan Africa, and the existence of periodic drought can be documented over hundreds of years. As a consequence of the routine rainfall shortages that affect them, agricultural and pastoral societies have developed a number of social institutions and mechanisms for bridging temporary food production shortfalls caused by drought. Drawing on the literature and field data from southeastern Kenya, this paper discusses a number of regular indigenous responses to short‐term drought in sub‐Saharan Africa. Changes in these patterns in the present day are also discussed. It is concluded that market‐based responses are now the most important strategies, but that traditional institutions remain significant and contribute to the viability of drought‐affected societies.