Walking the Line: Conducting Transect Walks in Burkina Faso
Alfredo Rojas1, Koffi Nomedji2, Colin Thor West1
1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Practicing Anthropology
|November 1, 2021
Summary
Local farmers and pastoralists in Burkina Faso offer on-the-ground insights into Sahelian land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes. Their perceptions help contextualize environmental analysis amid debates on regional greening and degradation.
Area of Science:
- Environmental science
- Geography
- Community-based research
Background:
- The Sahel region is often characterized by environmental degradation narratives, particularly following the 1970s drought.
- Recent satellite imagery analyses reveal significant greening patterns across the Sahel, prompting debate on underlying causes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To integrate local farmers' and pastoralists' perceptions into the ongoing debate on Sahelian environmental changes.
- To inform environmental analysis by incorporating on-the-ground ecological process experiences.
Main Methods:
- Utilized transect walks and participatory mapping in Burkina Faso.
- Employed community-based processes to collect land-use/land-cover (LULC) data.
- Triangulated data using satellite imagery, direct observations, and local ecological knowledge.
Main Results:
- Transect walks provide valuable contextual information for environmental analysis.
- Community-based methods offer firsthand observations of ecological processes.
- Local perceptions are crucial for understanding complex environmental dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Integrating local knowledge with remote sensing data offers a more nuanced understanding of Sahelian environmental change.
- Transect walk methodology enhances the contextualization of environmental research.
- Fieldwork challenges in community-based research require careful consideration.
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