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L’accès à l’eau, facteur de différenciation des paysages et des sociétés rurales : l’exemple des périmètres irrigués de l’Office du Niger et de leurs marges sèches Volume 16, numéro 1, Mars 2005

Auteur
Université Paris IV – Sorbonne, UMR 8586 PRODIG, 191 rue Saint Jacques, 75005 Paris
  • Page(s) : 71-5
  • Année de parution : 2005

Structured by hydraulic installations and by rice and market-gardening racks, the landscapes of the perimeters of the Office du Niger sharply contrast with the Sahelian landscapes scared by the drought. This close relationship with water also conditions both the evolution and operation of rural societies. Thus, irrigation is at the origin of the recent development of rice-growing and market-gardening racks, and it generates a flow of prosperity which facilitates the construction of a fast-changing society. The drought is, on the other hand, responsible for the impoverishment of Sahelian populations who are the victims of a serious agroecological crisis and it is the cause of the progressive destructuration of traditional societies. The relations existing between the populations living in the dry areas and those living in the irrigated perimeters are thereby inevitably modified, evolving from a certain complementarity to various forms of dependence. The recent success of the development programmes for the irrigation racks, in an area where the lack of water remains a chronic problem, is disruptive for the ecological balance.