From January to April 2006 I did research in Ouahigouya and surroundings, in northern Burkina Faso (West Africa) on access to water resources in the Sahel region. After three months of fieldwork I wrote my Master's thesis about this subject for the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam.
During my stay in northern Burkina Faso, I wrote a diary of which much is published on this weblog. It gives an insight on rural African life, how I did my field research and the problems I faced.
Field Research:
In 2007, the year we faced the half-way point of the MDG's (Millennium Development Goals) set by the UN to reduce poverty in the world, I wrote my thesis. In this paper I tried to make clear how access to water is a crucial factor for the improvement and development of rural livelihoods in the Sahel region, which is one of the poorest areas in the world. The dry season here lasts eight months per year!
While most scientific research concentrates on water management and irrigation systems, my thesis concentrates on the social effects of water scarcity.
I focused on three forms of social constraints :
- Ethnic differences (Mossi farmers and Fulani pastoralists);
- Gender differences (men and women);
- Hierarchical differences (social strategy).
African rural livelihoods are based upon strong social structures which enables communities to survive in vulnerable environments. In times of drought and other crises, villagers rely upon their institutes for collective-action, and conflict-solving mechanisms.
At the moment I am designing my own website, on which you can soon find a full summary of my Master's thesis.
rosien.nl
