The logic of long-term development thinking seen through the eyes of pastoralists and planners

Living conditions in the African drylands are increasingly vulnerable. Whole production systems are collapsing with major effects, such as ecological refugees, famines, a desertification process due partly to imbalances in management, and the like. The causes behind such processes have been studied from many perspectives, and the ‘problem’ is formulated differently depending on one’s perspective. This essay documents the complexity of the situation by pointing out some contextual issues and perspectives. The author discusses livestock development projects in a social perspective; cultural perspectives on dryland development; sectorization as development culture behaviour; decisionmaking and the local competence of planners from a community perspective; and urbanization as a pastoral phenomenon. Bibliogr.