Things Fall Apart? Management, Environment and Taungya Farming in Edo State, Southern Nigeria

Bibliographic Data

ID2619954
AuthorsPauline Von Hellermann (corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume77
Issue3
Pages371-392
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1353/afr.2007.0052
OpenAlexW4230755487
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited19

Environmental degradation in Africa is often linked to management failure and political decline. One example of this is the dominant understanding of the unfolding of Taungya farming in Southern Nigeria in recent decades. An agro-forestry method of afforestation introduced by the colonial Forest Department in the 1920s and widespread by the 1960s, it is now perceived as a means of destroying the forest. Indeed, whilst reserve land continues to be allocated for Taungya farming, today, due to the Forest Department's political and economic difficulties, no more trees are planted. But this does not necessarily constitute a political and environmental crisis. Through an ethnographic and historical study of Taungya farming in the Okomu Reserve in Edo State, this article shows not only that there were always problems with Taungya as a method of afforestation, but also that its recent transformation may be seen as quite successful, both socially and environmentally. In this way, the article challenges both the 'crisis' perception of Taungya farming today and conventional ideas about what constitutes proper management and mismanagement

Afforestation · Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Business · Ethnography · Geography · Political science · Politics · State (computer science · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Environmental Science · Forestry · Land Rights and Reforms

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