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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Ecology of Survival in Sudan's Periphery: Short-Term Tactics and Long-Term Strategies
Author:Van Arsdale, Peter W.ISNI
Year:1989
Periodical:Africa Today
Volume:36
Issue:3-4
Period:3rd-4th Quarters
Pages:65-78
Language:English
Geographic term:Sudan
Subjects:nomads
Development and Technology
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/4186587
Abstract:This paper addresses the sets of socioeconomic tactics and strategies being employed by western Sudan's nomads to survive. The author introduces the concept of 'adaptive flux', which he defines as a set of short-term tactics together with a set of long-term strategies that enable survival under fluctuating, harsh, and erratic conditions in a socioeconomically peripheral area. Adaptive flux enables a group to cope successfully with deprivation. After ecological background information has been provided, findings on the following methodological constraints and resource issues are summarized: the definition and enumeration of nomads, sedentarization, water use, 'wave-like' migration processes, and intrasystemic diversity. Data were gathered among several nomadic groups, most particularly one known as the Habannia of southern Darfur. In conclusion, general policy recommendations regarding resource scarcity and human ecology are presented, including suggestions as to ways in which certain nomadic tactics and strategies might be employed to assist 'internal refugees'. Notes, ref.
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