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Espace populations sociétés
Space populations societies
Population, production and food in Sub-Saharan Africa
Cathy Chatel and Gwenaëlle Raton
Publisher
Université des Sciences et Technologies de
Lille
Electronic version
URL: http://eps.revues.org/6757
ISSN: 2104-3752
ELECTRONIC REFERENCE
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REFERENCES
This text was automatically generated on 22 novembre 2016.
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Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International.
Population, production and food in Sub-Saharan Africa
Population, production and food in
Sub-Saharan Africa
Cathy Chatel and Gwenaëlle Raton
According to J.P Raison and A. Dubresson, African agriculture is able to support an
exceptional population growth whiles she never knew the Green Revolution nor
agribusiness intervention (Raison et Dubresson, 1998). However, since then, the
relationship between demography and agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa is still discussed
in a binary way, opposing a "pessimistic" vision originating from T. Malthus (1798) to the
"optimistic" position of E. Boserup (1981).
Recent works have shown that some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa experienced
significant agricultural growth over several decades (OECD, SWAC, 2012) in a context of
exceptional population growth and a strong fertility rate. Within this new framework,
this special issue from Space, populations, societies aims to contribute to a better
understanding of relationships between agriculture, demography and fulfillment of the
nutritional needs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its aim is to highlight these relationships at
different spatial scales and temporalities, focusing on comparative approaches between
city and countryside, quantitative approaches mobilizing small-scale historical data, and
original methods of data crossing.
Methodological challenges and a paradigm shift
In Sub-Saharan Africa, data sources on demographical and agricultural changes are
missing including sometimes uncertain relativity of the data. In addition, the cross
analysis of times series, at national or regional scales, allows an indispensable step back
from these dynamics but raises many methodological problems. Authors may state the
contradictions concerning these data and provide reliable analysis methods.
In addition, population growth has often stimulated anxieties, so called Malthusian.
These anxieties bring out whenever a society exceeds a critical threshold, such as that
50% of urban population, assuming a minor share of farmers for an increasing amount of
Espace populations sociétés | 2016
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Population, production and food in Sub-Saharan Africa
people to feed. This special issue is too contribute to the change in the way relationships
between demography and agriculture are analyzed, in particular by examining a variety
of information on population growth on which fertility, urban and rural population,
agricultural population, employment, production and agricultural productivity, food
security, agrarian and trading systems and land use patterns.
Population, food availability and agriculture: can we
talk about a joint growth?
In Sub-Saharan Africa, did the agricultural production rise in line with population? Does
the production grow by increasing of agricultural yields or cultivated areas? Despite the
extent of research on these topics, we know only partially answer these questions. Reality
is complex because agriculture's performance depends on several factors, such as
conflicts, climatic constraints, or economic choices, which are under-represented in the
scientific literature. In addition, producing enough food does not mean food satisfaction
and availability. The contributions on the trajectories of country and regions over time
would be very much appreciated. Moreover, integrating the issue of food security and its
relations with imports and food border traffic is an important topic of this special issue.
Living, using resources and consuming: the
settlement patterns adaptations
Population growth transform the face of Sub-Saharan Africa and its cities that are more
and more numerous, dense and widespread, but also of its countryside (Africapolis, 2009).
Population growth implies an increasing land consumption for two reasons: people is
living in this space and collect their agricultural resources. The analysis of land use
changes, observed by the settlement densification or the expansion of cultivated land,
shows that the issue of the demographic weight on the farmland is not only posed in
terms of overcrowding, but in terms of adaptation of settlement forms to economic
opportunities, whether these opportunities are local, regional or from a globalized
economy.
This observation leads to develop a reflection both on fertility, rural and urban
population growth and their spatial distribution. Population and settlement demonstrate
the different types of land use: they are a significant indicator of that balance between
people and their land, between urban and agricultural populations, between cities and
countryside, that bring us to assess their impact on the ability of agriculture to meet the
needs of the population.
Renewed relations between urban and rural areas
Demography and agriculture are often understood in terms of balance. A crucial question,
though simple, is the subject of debate among Africanists: are rural areas still growing?
The weight of agriculture, agricultural labor force and urbanity in society are questioned,
while two positions are confronted. The first one assumes that population growth leads to
the countryside densification and the transformation of rural society. Already, mutations
appear to operate in the growth of multiple activities of rural people who maintain rural
Espace populations sociétés | 2016
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Population, production and food in Sub-Saharan Africa
seasonal activity. The second one argues that beyond a certain density threshold, places
that were until then rural can be considered as urban. We expect analyses at different
scales to illustrate the diversity of recompositions between cities and countryside.
Calendar
Abstract: 1st march 2017
Articles: 30th june 2017
Publication: November 2018
Contacts
Cathy CHATEL
Chercheuse post-doctorante FAPESP/UNESP (Brésil)
[email protected]
Gwenaëlle RATON
Chargée de recherche IFSTTAR / Laboratoire SPLOTT
[email protected]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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BOSERUP E. (1981), Population and Technological Change. A study of Long-Term Trends, The University
of Chicago Press, 260 p
CLEAVER K.M , G.A SHREIBER (1994), Reserving the spiral : the population , agriculture and
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Population, production and food in Sub-Saharan Africa
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