Ferio Desert - Economy

Economy

This region of Seneral is destitute, and living conditions are difficult. The population are mainly engaged in ranching. The main crops cultivated are millet, cowpeas, peanuts, watermelons and squash and Acacia gum.

The natural grasslands of the desert have undergone change. Until the mid 1950s the region "was visited by men and livestock only during the rainy season and at the very beginning of the dry season (July to November)." In 1953, J. G. Adam noted that the "groundnut cultivation has transformed the natural vegetation on sandy soils, to note, even at a distance from the water points, a climax, subclimax vegetation which has not been disrupted by cultivation, and hardly changed by grazing, since this has occurred only, until recent years, during the four summer months, where the vegetation is dense and close to standing water." From the mid 1950s, boreholes were drilled and began to provide water to areas of the desert, which enabled pastureland to be used by the farmers all year round. By 1955, fifty wells were reported along the main trek routes to be providing water. Under better conditions, the population of livestock in the desert increased; by the 1990s, it supported livestock herding, cited as "a continuous extension of the desert steppe into the savanna" but one which was "not rich enough to attract herders from the north of the river." Between 1969 and 1972, the "Study of Natural Pastureland in Northern Senegal" was conducted, assessing the borehole development in the desert and found that the boreholes were still on on average 25-30 km apart, which meant that exploitation of land was generally restricted to a 5 km radius of them. Spate irrigation has since developed in the region, and temporary ponds may cover an area of several hectares during the wet season from July to October.