The paper is composed of two parts; The first surveys the changes in Nigerian national food produ... more The paper is composed of two parts; The first surveys the changes in Nigerian national food production with relation to the governmental policy. The second analyses the findings from a field study about local food production in relation with that of the national level. Nigerian food production began to increase in the mid-1980s, however there is no substantial data to convince it. To what extent this was due to the Structural Adjustment Program (S.A.P.) is assessed using the methodology of political ecology. This paper is an attempt to show how and to what extent the change in agricultural production in national level has connected with that of local level. It’s highly probable that introduction of S.A.P. has effect to increase food production, through extensive changes in cultivation, such as diminution of mixed cropping, shortened fallow periods, and partial desolation of cultivation fallow systems. These all lead to the increase in cassava production, which may have been attained...
A growing trend in migration studies in Africa is the stronger interest in the contexual analysis... more A growing trend in migration studies in Africa is the stronger interest in the contexual analysis of migration in relation to the larger political economies. In this study, migration is viewed as a sign of economic and political change, or a manifestation of people's response to such change. Political ecology as point of view is useful for the purpose of this study with a focus on the Nigerian economy which has experienced unprecedented ups-and-downs since 1970 and therefore provides us a suitable field for study. It has become clear that household or kin group network played an important role in people's migration. It was mobilized in the period of the economic boom of the 1970s; shifting people from farming to non-farming jobs; encouraging migration from rural areas to urban areas; and promoting higher education. And after an economic depression, it helped young people find jobs, even in the informal sectors of towns; and to hold unemployed young people in the village. These are some ways in which migration is forcing people to adapt to the rapid economic change.
Vulnerability and resilience are useful and fertile concepts for understanding social and ecologi... more Vulnerability and resilience are useful and fertile concepts for understanding social and ecological systems. However, because these concepts are value -laden and difficult to measure, they are perceived as challenging not only in the practical domain, but also theoretically. One of these challenges pertains to the insistence of some geographers that as scale -dependent concepts, vulnerability and resilience should be conceived in relation to a specific area. Endorsing this view, we present a series of studies of one area as an example that will contribute to a better understanding of vulnerability and resilience. In these studies, we have focused on a single rural society in Zambia in which we have had longstanding research experience extending from 1992 to 2011. This long -term field experience enables us to analyze historically contingent changes in human -environmental relations, revealing wide ranging and frequently interconnected factors that have influenced changes in the vulnerability of small -scale farmers in this area.
The importance of the concept of vulnerability is widely acknowledged, however it is not easy to ... more The importance of the concept of vulnerability is widely acknowledged, however it is not easy to fully understand and evaluate it because of its multi -faceted nature. The vulnerability can only be assessed using a multi -factor approach. This paper tries to show one of example how to explore the vulnerability of small scale farmers in Africa. I carefully examined changes in farmers vulnerability in a village of Zambia based on the long -term records since 1992. I focused on the change of farmers accessibility to natural resources. The result shows that the impact of socioeconomic change on vulnerability is open to more than one interpretation, and more, changes may have counteracting effects on vulnerability through the resulting socioeconomic changes. Thus the multi -factor approach shows us how intricate the concept of vulnerability and resilience are.
The Nigerian economy has experienced uncommon up-and-down during last decades; "oil -boom" in 197... more The Nigerian economy has experienced uncommon up-and-down during last decades; "oil -boom" in 1970s and "oil-doom" in 1980s. This sharp fluctuations in economy had very strong influence even in rural society. This paper aims to show current agricultural production system which has experienced rapid economic change since 1970. Field survey was carried out in 1989 at an Igbira village called Ebiya which is located about 20 km east of Okene, Kwara state. At the field survey, the authors laid stress on two points. One is about agricultural production system which was done by questionnaire, and the other is about land use pattern for which the authors had measured the whole farm land of two households. The results of field survey can be summarized as follows. 1) Various crops, both root crops and cereals, are cultivated in Ebiya village, however, cassava has become the most important crop as a cash crop. 2) For land clearance and weeding, farmers are employing agricultural labor. On the contrary, traditional mutual-help-type of work has only little importance in farming. 3) Cultivated land of the two households are about 1.8 ha in extent, which are not so large even compared with the case of southern Nigeria. In both households, househeads and their sons play important role in farming. 4) There are various type of cropping, namely, cropping patterns range from single cropping to four crops combination. But cassava is planted in the largest area. The percentage of area planted cassava to total cultivated land today seems to be much higher than that of 1960s. 5) Basic pattern of annual agricultural work has not changed too much. Planting starts at the beginning of rainy season and harvesting work is done at the end of rainy season for almost all crops. However, the case of cassava is peculiar one. It is planted and harvested in various seasons. Agricultural production system and cultivation system in Ebiya village can be con-
Intensification Processes of Land Use in Southern Nigeria
The Science Reports of the Tohoku University 7th Series Geography, Dec 1, 1977
Introductory Analysis of Social Vulnerability in Rural Africa
E-journal GEO, 2009
脆弱性理論は，脆弱性概念の多義性のために未だ有効な分析概念とは認められていない．しかし，アフリカの貧困問題や農業の持続性の理解のための学際的研究分野においては，大きな可能性を持つと考えられている... more 脆弱性理論は，脆弱性概念の多義性のために未だ有効な分析概念とは認められていない．しかし，アフリカの貧困問題や農業の持続性の理解のための学際的研究分野においては，大きな可能性を持つと考えられている．本稿では，アフリカ農村社会の分析にとって適切な脆弱性の定義を試み，次に個人，世帯，社会集団という主体の違いによって現れる脆弱性の多様性を整理した．その上で，ナイジェリア，ブルキナ・ファソ，ザンビアで行った農村調査の結果をもとに，個人，世帯，社会集団の脆弱性がどのような過程で増大してきているのか考察した．その結果，個人，世帯，社会集団の脆弱性は，相互に密接な関連を持ち影響しあっていることが明らかとなった．たとえば，ブルキナ・ファソから南部諸国への出稼ぎは，干ばつ常襲地域の世帯の脆弱性を緩和するものであったが，2000年にコート・ジボワールで起きた外国人排斥運動に遭い，突然中止せざるを得なくなった．このことで国外追放された個人，世帯はもとより，彼らが帰った先の故郷の農村社会の脆弱性にも深刻な影響を与えた．このような複雑な脆弱性を理解するためには，主体間の脆弱性増大の影響やそのプロセスを明らかにした上で，次にそれらの間の相互関係を解析する必要がある．
The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Agricultural Production in Zambia
African Geographical Review, 2003
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 28.1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are ... more The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 28.1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV I AIDS. In sou them Africa, more than 20 percent of the population, aged 1549, are infected (WHO 2001, 16). Many studies have been conducted to assess HIV/AIDS from a medical, nutritional, and economic point of view, but investigations of the indirect and longer-term effects of that disease are scarce (Barnett and Blaikie 1992). Barnett and Whiteside (2002, 161) suggest that impact of disease be seen as a continuum between an acute shock and slow, profound changes. This field note focuses on the latter end of their continuum; the effect of heightened mortality rates on agricultural production practices in Zambia. A mutual help system, which normally functions to mitigate the effects of labor or equipment shortages, has been jeopardized by unprecedented death rates. This exploratory study was conducted in a small village located ninety kilometers north of the capital city of Lusaka, where the present author has conducted research since 1993 (Shimada 1995, 2001). Upon establishment of the village in the late 1960s the first head welcomed new people into the community, regardless of their ethnic origin. Several households immigrated from Zimbabwe, including one that introduced wetland cultivation (dambo). As wetland cultivation gained popularity in the 1980s, more settlers were attracted to the village (Kodamaya 1995a). The collapse of urban labor markets under Zambia$ Structural Adjustment Program accelerated this movement. By 1998, the village consisted of 120 households, fourteen of whom are the focus later in this study A growing vacuum of authority in the central government has encouraged villagers to migrate into the Forest Reserve adjacent to the village. Traditional chiefs, who reclaim their right over the land, are allowing people to settle in the Reserve (Hanzawa et al. 1994; Hanzawa 1998; Kodamaya 1995b; Shimada 2002). Two types of farming take place in this regiondambo cultivation during the dry season followed by upland production during the rainy season (December to April). Although maize production in uplands provides the staple food, dambo crops such as tomatoes, watermelons, and rape are the primary source of cash income. Zambia$ Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) has encouraged cash crop production on dambo wetlands. The abolition of maize procurement in 1993 also weakened the confidence of farmers in maize. Gross output from dambo farming, as measured in terms of value, can exceed that of
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