The geography of pastoral mobility: A spatio-temporal analysis of GPS data from Sahelian Senegal

Author: Adriansen Hanne   Nielsen Thomas  

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

ISSN: 0343-2521

Source: GeoJournal, Vol.64, Iss.3, 2005-11, pp. : 177-188

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show the contribution of geography to the study of pastoral mobility. While pastoralists of Ferlo, Senegal, have become semi-sedentary, little is known about the mobility of their livestock. In this paper, pastoral mobility is analysed using GPS measurements of cattle movements made by a pastoralist from 1997 to 2000. Based on data from 3 years, a quantification of the extent of movements and mappings of the patterns are made. The results show that cattle walk about 5000 km on an annual basis, and while a great deal of the mobility can be characterised as daily circular movements between the camp and watering points, occasional transhumance is still used to make the most of variable resources.