Trees of Sogolonbougou: A Decision Case of Sustainable Agriculture in the Semiarid Tropics

ABSTRACT Critical environmental problems facing sub‐Sahara African nations include soil erosion, land degradation, and desertification. These problems are exacerbated by a number of factors including traditional shifting cultivation ( slash and burn ) practices of the region. Since 1986 the practice of burning to prepare fallow fields for the planting of crops has been prohibited by law in the nation of Mali. Despite this, subsistence farmers continue to burn because they feel that they have few alternatives for clearing bush and preparing land for cropping. In the spring of 1988, Djokolo Coulibaly, the leader of a small village in western Mali, was confronted by an agent of the Malian Forest Service concerning a bush fire sighted on land belonging to Coulibaly's village. The case focuses on the conflicting goals, viewpoints, and priorities of the forest agent and Coulibaly concerning conservation of the forest ecosystems, desertification, and family and village needs. The case provides a basis for inductive discussions of natural resource and agricultural management policy issues locally, regionally, and internationally. The case also serves to increase student understanding of the environmental implications of subsistence agricultural practices characteristic of many semiarid tropical areas. The case has been used successfully in a general education agricultural ecology course at the University of Minnesota.