Open AccessParticipatory Mapping with Herders in a Climate Adaptation Research Project
Author(s) -
Elisabeth Kago Ilboudo Nébié,
Colin Thor West,
Todd A. Crane
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
practicing anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2994-1628
pISSN - 0888-4552
DOI - 10.17730/0888-4552.43.1.25
Subject(s) - livelihood , emic and etic , citizen journalism , ethnography , participatory action research , perspective (graphical) , geography , narrative , sociology , environmental resource management , focus group , environmental planning , political science , anthropology , archaeology , visual arts , environmental science , law , art , linguistics , philosophy , agriculture
Declining grazing lands threaten the livelihoods of Fulɓe herders in Burkina Faso and other parts of Africa. I used GIS to spatially represent ethnographic narratives about land use and land cover changes. In a place where maps were unavailable or treated as closely held community secrets, I used participatory mapping to offer participants the opportunity to control the process and resulting maps. Our project sought to understand environmental challenges from a fine-grained emic perspective using high-resolution satellite imagery and focus groups. I reflect on challenges of conducting fieldwork in one's home country, which made it easier to build relationships and interact with officials. At the same time, however, I faced the intersecting challenges of "being an outsider and a woman" as I interacted with Fulɓe men and that of being "too educated" in interacting with women.