Participatory Mapping of Ethnoecological Perspectives on Land Degradation Neutrality in Southern Burkina Faso

Abstract

In the Sahel region of West Africa, land degradation has raised concerns about the threat of desertification, leading to the establishment of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1994. Over time, the focus has shifted from simply combating desertification to a more comprehensive international program focused on preserving the health of our land by offsetting any damage with restoration efforts by 2030 to sustain ecosystem functions and services. This balancing process—which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—is known as Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). We examine Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) patterns, namely degradation and rehabilitation processes, by integrating participatory mapping with high-resolution satellite imagery with local stories, observations, historical records, and existing studies. The data elicited an understanding of the processes driving land degradation and adaptation strategies among three distinct ethnic groups of crop and livestock farmers in the village of Yallé in southern Burkina Faso. Some of these people were originally from this region, while others moved from places where the land was already degraded. Participants in the study had diverse experiences and perceptions of land degradation, its drivers, and adaptation strategies, which were influenced by their ethnicity, livelihood activities, and life experiences. These differences highlight the impact of cultural and socioeconomic factors on how people view land degradation, as well as the role of local knowledge in managing the environment. The study emphasizes the necessity of incorporating ethnoecological perspectives into projects focused on Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) to better understand land degradation and improve land management. This integration can significantly contribute to strengthening global sustainability and community resilience.

1. Introduction

1.1. Land Degradation Neutrality

In recent decades, the Sahel region of West Africa has experienced significant environmental changes, including variations in rainfall. This is evidenced by well-documented droughts and land degradation in certain areas as well as rainfall recovery and re-greening in other locations, which have received less attention in studies [1,2,3,4]. Since the severe droughts of the 1970s, the region has been in the spotlight of research and development projects as a desertification and famine hotspot [5,6,7]. Land degradation, compounded by political and social unrest, has had a detrimental impact on subsistence farming and agro-pastoral livelihoods. The concept of combating desertification by The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was first intended to address the degradation of drylands, especially in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas where ecosystems and livelihoods were being threatened by processes of land degradation like soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover, and desert encroachment. In the following decades, it became clear that desertification was a symptom of more significant regional problems linked with global environmental change and local unsustainable land management, poverty, and related socioeconomic factors. This led to a shift from focusing on “combating desertification” to a more comprehensive approach of achieving “Land Degradation Neutrality” (LDN). Embodied in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.3 that aims to combat desertification and restore the degraded land by 2030, LDN involves preserving the health of our land by offsetting any damage with restoration efforts to sustain ecosystem functions and services. This means that once the land is degraded due to activities such as deforestation, we make up for this loss by repairing and restoring it to prevent additional harm and protect it for future generations. Using a more nuanced international program to achieve LDN demonstrates a growing recognition of the complexity of land degradation issues, its connection with other sustainable development objectives, and the need for a more holistic and sustainable approach to land management, including the involvement of diverse stakeholders and bottom-up approaches.

The work presented here is part of a larger project in Burkina Faso where we used the pilot methodology of integrating participatory mapping with high-resolution satellite imagery to understand the human drivers of regional vegetation trends in three communities around Kongoussi (Bam Province) in northern Burkina Faso [8]. Specifically, we were interested in mapping perceived areas of land degradation and rehabilitation. We decided to use the same methodology in Yallé (Sissili Province), a village of origin of the first author in the south that is ecologically distinct from Kongoussi. Yallé is a compelling contrasting case because it is wetter, less densely populated, and considered “pristine” relative to Bam. At the same time, it is undergoing rapid environmental change due to human activities, contrasting with the more stable yet degraded environment of Bam. The Yallé area has historically had a humid climate with abundant rainfall, resulting in a green and fertile environment with huge economic opportunities for farmers fleeing drought from other regions. However, since the 1980s, massive in-migration and agricultural expansion have caused significant savanna conversion into cropland and dramatic land degradation in Sissili, in contrast to Bam, where land degradation had stabilized due to widespread investments in soil and water conservation (SWC) [9]. Migration has increased ethnic diversity and the diversity of livelihood activities (crop and livestock production, trade) in Yallé, leading to different land use practices. This offers a unique opportunity to investigate how different communities perceive and manage land degradation. The transition from a fertile to a degraded landscape is compelling for exploring the socioecological impacts of land degradation and existing land management practices. This study is particularly significant at a time when efforts to combat land degradation are being promoted in other parts of the Sahel region, neglecting newly degraded areas such as Sissili.

Most studies on land degradation in Burkina Faso have focused on the Central Plateau region and northern provinces such as Bam [10]. These studies have also overlooked the role of local knowledge in managing environmental and ecological systems, leading to land management plans that may not reflect the realities and needs of those most affected [11]. To fill this gap, we explore how ethnically distinct farmers and herders, with different lived experiences, understand land degradation in a southern, more humid, and less degraded context. In other words, we look at how they classify degraded versus non-degraded landscapes and how they manage their environment. We investigate the impact of migration on people’s perceptions of land degradation by comparing groups that originated from northern, more degraded regions and whose migrations have transformed local ecologies. This comparison highlights the influence of cultural and socioeconomic factors on perceptions of land degradation. It offers a nuanced understanding of land degradation and the role of local knowledge in environmental management.

1.2. Ethnoecology Approach: The Importance of Local Knowledge

We use an ethnoecology approach to study how communities understand, categorize, and manage their natural environment, emphasizing the cultural significance of these connections. Simply put, ethnoecology looks at the knowledge, belief systems, and practices related to using and managing natural resources in a specific place to understand how different cultures perceive and interact with their natural surroundings. The term was introduced by Harold Conklin in his study of the Hanunoo people, in which he compared their traditional knowledge with Western science, contributing to establishing ethnoecology as a unique academic discipline. While more significant debates about ethnoscience revolve around whether human classifications and terminologies of their local environment are universal [12], ethnoecology emphasizes cultural relativism. Understanding how culture affects systems of meaning is particularly relevant in global change research, as knowledge is constantly reshaped to adapt to new realities [13]. Ethnoecology values emic perspectives and respects that local and Indigenous people are experts with a holistic understanding of their physical resources, fauna, and flora for their long-term sustainability [14]. In the seminal edited volume titled Ethnoecology: Situated Knowledge/Located Lives, Virginia Nazarea (1999) explains that perceptions are partial and subjective perspectives taken about a particular question at a specific time and place from our unique position in social space; they are shaped and enacted in the social realm. Nazarea’s “lifescapes” concept offers a helpful framework for grasping the complex relationship between cultural practices and ecological systems. Lifescapes are dynamic and specific to their context, influenced by natural and human factors, requiring a balance between current needs and future sustainability to maintain health and productivity.

In the Global South, local knowledge is a lived experience that is expressed and sought for practical purposes as people do or watch productive activities (i.e., cropping or herding) rather than talked about in interviews, focus groups, written about or reduced to figures or maps, as is the case with scientific knowledge production [15]. Applied ethnoecology investigates the nature and meaning of subsistence, which differs among communities based on ethnicity, religion, economy, and history. In this case study, we identify areas that three distinct groups of people perceive as changing and document and compare their perspectives on the processes driving land degradation. These three groups share the same space and experience similar ecological stresses, but they perceive and relate differently to their environment and adapt to change in dissimilar ways. By understanding how spatial experiences of environmental change differ, we seek to document diverse voices, including those of minorities and marginalized groups, such as Fulani herders, whose livelihoods are threatened by these changes.

Proponents of ethnoecology and bottom-up approaches to research and development recognize the rich environmental expertise that smallholders in the Global South can contribute to sustainable land management, conservation, and achieving SDGs. Attempts to bridge the gap between scientific and local knowledge have revolutionized the field of anthropology and opened new opportunities for anthropologists beyond academia, including a change in research methods and the opportunity to engage in social and economic development efforts [15]. Beginning in the 1980s with the work of Robert Chambers [16] and others, grounded approaches such as participatory research methods increased in the Global South to better understand vulnerability and adaptive capacities at the grassroots level and involve local communities in decision-making processes. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that integrates participatory mapping with satellite imagery (visual information) with local narratives (orality) to bridge the gap between scientific experts (proficient in reading and writing) and local experts (not always proficient in reading and writing). By doing so, this research seeks to promote the use of inclusive approaches that integrate Indigenous knowledge with scientific research to develop more sustainable, culturally sensitive land management systems relevant not only in Burkina Faso but also across Africa, where similar challenges and ethnic diversity exist. Incorporating local knowledge in mapping degraded and rehabilitated land is paramount in promoting LDN, as it leverages the direct experiences and practices of communities engaged with the land.

1.3. Participatory Mapping

Anthropologists use various methods to investigate local knowledge in the Global South. In this study, we use visual material to elicit local perceptions. We integrate high-resolution satellite imagery with participatory mapping to offer a fine-grained understanding of regional environmental changes and their causes. Previous studies relied on integrating coarse-resolution spatial data with traditional close-ended/top-down surveys to show a dramatic increase in farmland, an alarming decrease in savanna, and high rural migration rates in the Sissili area [17,18]. Coarse-resolution spatial data have recorded a substantial decline in vegetation cover across the Sahel [19,20], but there are also signs of greening [4,20,21,22,23,24] at a regional scale. Local interpretations of these changes remain rare in scholarly works. In Sissili, using survey data, researchers linked changes to high in-migration, extreme poverty, extensive farming activities, cash cropping (agri-business) development, bushfires, fuelwood extraction for direct sale or charcoal production, overgrazing, and land degradation [9,18,25,26]. We use participatory mapping with high-resolution satellite imagery to document ethnoecological perspectives on Land Degradation Neutrality.

Participatory mapping with Geographic Information Systems (GISs) has improved our understanding of how communities perceive their environment, including land use changes. Participatory maps are mental representations of the world, and their spatial properties can help us elucidate the spatial experiences of rural producers, local power dynamics, and the political economy behind land use and land cover changes that maps or satellite images alone cannot tell us [27]. High-resolution satellite imagery offers a comprehensive view of the mapped area, facilitates access to remote locations, makes mapping more engaging and understandable, and allows for trend analysis by comparing historical images. Finally, this technology also helps verify the accuracy of data collected on the ground, ensuring the reliability of the final maps. Participatory maps offer “non-experts” the opportunity to countermap the view of “experts” and elites, addressing the researcher’s positionality and misconceptions, empowering voiceless groups, and favoring bottom-up research [28].

Participatory mapping has been successful at sparking conversations regardless of literacy levels, reducing subjectivity, and democratizing the research process, but it is essential to acknowledge that the process of generating participatory maps itself is restrictive [27]. The technical skills involved in accessing, producing, and analyzing maps; the specific skills needed to merge participatory maps with local narratives and the cost and permission needed to access satellite imagery in our case are some of these restrictions. In addition, the mapping process can be influenced by participants’ biases and lack of technical skills, which may affect data accuracy and reliability. Moreover, power dynamics within communities can negatively affect mapping outcomes, possibly sidelining less influential groups. Finally, the scale at which participatory maps are created might not capture detailed spatial information, leading to inaccuracies. Training can help improve accuracy, but challenges remain in ensuring the fidelity of participatory mapping exercises. Even though participatory mapping has some limitations, its benefits in a rural context outweigh them.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. The Study Site

Yallé is a village in the Biéha Commune in the Sissili Province in southern Burkina Faso, with the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates of 11°13′48″ N 1°58′03″ W. Located about 160 km south of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, this village is considered wetter and greener compared to villages in the Sahel climate zone to the north. Vegetation can be classified as a Sudanian savanna landscape, and land use types include settlements, farmland, savanna woodland, and deciduous forest in community and state-protected forests [29]. In Yallé, cropland increased from 21% to 30%, and forest cover declined from 41% to 18% between 1984 and 2002 [18]. Traditional subsistence systems compete with cash cropping of tubers, cereals, ground nuts, cotton, fruit trees (such as Mangifera indica and Anacardium occidentale), and livestock and charcoal production for the major urban centers of Ouagadougou and Koudougou [17]. The province’s abundant rainfall and good soil quality have attracted migrants from drier northern regions. Overall, migration into the province decreased from 1985 to 2019, but migration into Yallé itself was extremely high [18,30,31]. The local community is divided into three major ethnic and linguistic groups. In the late 1990s, the Nuni, who are the first settlers and farmers, represented roughly half of the population; the Mossi farmers, who migrated from central and northern areas of the country after the droughts of the 1970s, represented the second largest group; and the Fulani herders, who resettled in the pastoral zone of Yallé in the 1980s, were the smallest group [32]. The average farm size is estimated to be 4.5 ha for the Nuni, 6.0 ha for the Mossi, and 1.5 ha for the Fulani [32].

2.1.1. Nuni Farmers

The Nuni are one of the Gurunsi ethnolinguistic groups native to the area. They perform a ‘gentle’ form of agriculture with ‘static’ farms considered less destructive for the natural vegetation than the Mossi’s extensive farming [32,33]. Rather than clearing trees to create fields, Nuni agricultural practices have tended to protect trees and cultivate around them. The Nuni integrate hoe farming with plowing. Plowing is known for causing erosion [34]. Mixing hoe and plow farming can help minimize land degradation and promote sustainable farming practices for a group native to the region.

2.1.2. Fulani Herders

Most Fulani herders (~93%) arrived in the last 30 years after a pastoral zone was created in 1982, and the rest moved in more than 50 years ago, some to herd Nuni cattle [32]. The Yallé Pastoral Zone was created by the state and foreign donors on a 400 km² natural reserve of woody savanna to encourage the resettlement of Fulani herders fleeing droughts, land degradation, and water scarcity in northern and central regions of Burkina Faso [35]. Similar pastoral zones have been created throughout the country following the massive droughts of the 1970s–1980s to resettle Fulani herders and boost the livestock sector [36]. The Yallé Pastoral Zone is also frequently visited by other livestock herders moving seasonally on transhumance. The Fulani adopt a semi-sedentary lifestyle, with seasonal movement of livestock. The pastoral zone of Yallé, where most Fulani are found, is in a relatively forested area with low-intensity farming at the periphery of the more densely populated village. While herding livestock from dry to humid areas is their primary livelihood activity, Fulani herders also grow some crops on smaller fields, including fodder crops, to ensure food security. Their agricultural fields are often in old pasturelands, where livestock formerly grazed. The abundant manure in these old grazing lands enriches the soil. This is an example of sustainable agricultural production, where organic matter is recycled within the farming system to preserve soil fertility and productivity.

2.1.3. Mossi Farmers

Compared to Fulani herders, most Mossi migrant farmers came into the area more recently from the drier, degraded (but increasingly rehabilitated), and much more densely populated northern and central regions of the country in search of better agricultural opportunities and income. They are well-known for their migration patterns in West Africa, where they often leave their dry homelands to farm in more humid areas or look for work as farm workers in coastal countries such as the Ivory Coast [37]. They then settle permanently in these new areas, invite kin to join them, and eventually become demographically dominant. The Mossi are also well-known for their “moving” farms, which involve extensive clearing and imported agricultural practices from the Central Plateau regions. Their farming practices include clearing trees to free space for cropping, growing crops for a few years until the soil is no longer fertile, moving on to clear new land, etc. Looking at the Mossi’s preference for extensive agriculture, other groups who host migrant Mossi communities refer to the Mossi as “oiseaux du mil” (“grain birds”) and “land conquerors” who have used migration and land use practices adapted to their marginal northern environments—moving from place to place for new agricultural land or wage labor to sustain their livelihoods, sometimes beyond the borders of Burkina Faso—with dramatic environmental and social consequences for destination areas [38]. Their form of extensive agriculture has been widely studied in their central and northern homelands, and outsiders often claim, “After the Mossi comes the desert”! [9,39]. In Sissili, the Mossi have adopted some of the crops traditionally cultivated by the Nuni to diversify their agricultural activities and optimize economic outcomes. In degraded Mossi homelands, adaptation responses have included investment in soil and water conservation (SWC) strategies, which have been widely documented as successful [40,41,42].

In this environment where livelihood strategies and agricultural practices differ, negotiations among ethnic groups and communities prioritizing local production systems have allowed communities to enhance livelihoods while minimizing environmental harm [32]. Howorth and O’Keefe argued that traditional legal and production systems have been reshaped in this ever-changing context to adapt to change and effectively manage and sustain critical resources [32,33].

2.2. Data Collection

2.2.1. Sampling

Table 1. Methodology main steps.

Stage	Action	Description
Pre-fieldwork	Identify field site	Review the literature to help refine study objective and design participatory mapping questions
	Identify and purchase	High-resolution satellite imagery and green and orange buttons
Fieldwork	Recruit	Recruit research assistant
		Introduce project to community
		3 research “ambassadors”
		79 referred participants
	Participatory mapping activities	Step 1: Identify vital livelihood resources and challenges in accessing them. Take notes in notebook.	Step 2: Mark degraded or rehabilitated areas with green or orange buttons. Take notes.	Part 3: Discuss drivers of changes and solutions. Take notes.	Part 4: Photograph maps overlaid with buttons
	Continuous observations		Take notes.
Post-fieldwork: Data analysis	Participatory maps photos	Used for visual comparison.
	Digital notes and observations	Handwritten notes were typed and analyzed with maps.
	Coding	Digital notes are coded in Word doc for themes and patterns.
	Cross-checking	Narratives across groups are compared and cross-checked.
	Historical records and existing studies	Used to contextualize findings.
	Validation	Results are shared with community leaders for validation.

summarizes the sequence of research activities. A total of four participatory mapping exercises were held with agro-pastoralists from the three ethnic groups shown in

Table 2. Number of participants from different gender, ethnicity, and livelihood activities.

	Nuni Farmers	Mossi Farmers	Fulani Herders
Male	24	9	14
Female	24	2	6
Total	48	11	20

from 18–20 July 2017, during the rainy season, in Yallé. Most households in the study site are agro-pastoralists who mix crop and livestock farming to different extents to adapt to ecological changes. Yet, some households have traditionally relied more on one livelihood activity than another. Differences here also overlap with ethnicity. Even though crop and livestock farming are integrated to different degrees across households, in this paper, we explore nuances by using the term “farmer” to define someone who relies mainly on cropping (more than 50% of their time and labor) rather than herding, and a “herder” as someone who relies more on raising livestock (more than 50% of their time and labor) than on cropping for subsistence.

We used a snowball sampling strategy to enable access to small but hard-to-reach social groups [43,44]. In snowball sampling, each participant refers the researcher to another potential participant, and so on, to grow the sample. In small rural settings in Burkina Faso, snowball sampling was suitable for including underrepresented groups such as migrants, women, and herders who may not feel comfortable discussing land issues due to their limited land rights. Mossi migrants felt that they needed to be invited by native Nuni to discuss land issues; Fulani herders were known for their reluctance to participate in research led by “outsiders”, and women were excluded from land talks due to gender inequalities. Yet, this approach is known for posing a high bias risk that can reduce sample diversity and representativeness, potentially reflecting the original group’s social network or preferences more strongly than the general population’s. To alleviate these limitations, we relied on well-respected community leaders and elders in the first round of the sampling. We worked with a local research assistant—a native Nuni farmer and well-respected municipal advisor with a strong network in the area—to consult three community leaders to help name one male and one female, at least 50 years old, from each ethnicity who could speak about historical social and environmental changes in the area and help recruit additional participants. Age was an important selection criterion because elders were generally very respected in this community; they had deeper historical and community knowledge that allowed them to facilitate referrals. Acting as the research team’s “ambassadors” within their community, each elder referred the research team to four other people of the same gender and ethnicity. These additional participants then referred two individuals of the same gender and ethnicity who were at least 18 years old until we reached 28 participants for each gender by ethnic group. We broadened the age range in the last part of the sampling to include diverse insights and to ensure we heard from youth. Table 2 only listed participants who could participate in the study but not the intended sample. The intended sample size was 28 participants per gender by ethnicity, larger than what is shown in Table 2, but not everyone could participate in the study in the middle of the rainy season due to farm work and rainy days. In addition, the study was conducted within a short time frame and in the rainy season because it was a graduate student project with limited time and financial resources.

2.2.2. Participatory Mapping Activity

The activity consisted of gathering participants around a color multispectral Pléiades high-resolution (~0.5 m) 5 km/5 km satellite image of the village of Yallé, captured on 31 December 2015 (see Figure 1) to discuss and understand the extent of vegetation change and whether a particular area has remained unchanged or improved. The satellite image was not labeled, and we provided participants with very few descriptions to stimulate engagement, discovery, and participation. We helped orient them with an image showing them north on the map, the location of Yallé, and the main road from Ouagadougou to Léo as a reference point. We explained that the image was taken in December 2015, during the dry season and the last harvest. We then asked the participants if they could recognize where they were sitting along with their houses and farms to ensure that they could read the map. This participatory mapping was conducted in three phases. First, we asked participants to identify vital livelihood resources (i.e., bodies of water, livestock tracks, grazing land) and to explain their challenges in accessing them. Second, we asked them to show places where land was degraded or rehabilitated and describe challenges in these areas. They marked these places with buttons. Orange buttons were used to identify degrading areas, and green buttons were used for regreening regions (see Figure 2). Third, we ask participants to discuss the drivers of these changes and how they address them.

Notes were handwritten in a physical notebook to allow flexibility and immediacy in recording observations, quotes, and other relevant information. The handwritten notes were summarized, and quotes were transcribed verbatim and typed up digitally. Photos of the buttons (see Figure 2) placed on the satellite image by study participants were taken at the end of each exercise and compared with textual data for analysis to derive meaning.

2.3. Data Analysis

To answer research questions and avoid potential biases, we cross-checked and validated findings using different methods, including focus group narratives, land use and land cover data, historical records, participant observations, and existing literature. The participatory maps with buttons were photographed for each group and compared across groups to identify similarities and differences in areas that each group identified as degraded or not degraded. This data were then combined with the digital notes from the mapping exercises and observations to understand the reasons behind button placement. The digital notes were preliminarily coded in a Word document to identify recurring themes relevant to understanding areas that each group identified as degraded or not and what they explained as drivers. We compared these narratives to cross-check information across groups to strengthen the validity of our findings. We consulted historical records and existing studies to further contextualize these patterns and narratives within each group’s broader cultural and social context. We shared our interpretation with community leaders to validate the results, ensuring that they resonated with their lived experiences. Direct quotes were extracted to explain the historical context, experiences, and drivers of land degradation. Our study, however, would have yielded more information if we had a larger sample size and spent more time on more in-depth data collection.

3. Results

3.1. Where Is Change?

The results from the participatory exercises underscore a common perception of land degradation, with no indicators of improvement observed. Key findings reveal a stark contrast between past and present conditions, as illustrated by personal stories detailing a significant reduction in the availability of natural resources, such as trees and water points, adversely impacting daily livelihood activities. These accounts are further supported by varied perceptions of land degradation, influenced by factors such as ethnicity, livelihood, and length of residence in the area. The insights collectively illustrate how the lived experiences of these communities, shaped by cultural backgrounds and socio-economic dependencies on the land, contribute to a nuanced understanding of the environmental challenges they face, signaling pressing issues of sustainability and conservation in the region.

(a)

Common perceptions of ongoing deterioration

All accounts confirmed that conditions are worsening, and no participant placed any green buttons, which referred to environmental improvement, conservation, or rehabilitation. A female Nuni farmer stated

“What was good in the past has worsened, and what was bad has not improved.”—female Nuni farmer.

Similarly, herders who settled in the area before Mossi migrants noted that it was much greener when they arrived in the area. But today, things are changing. Nostalgic about abundant natural resources in this area in the past, a male Fulani elder explained

“When we first moved here, this whole area was a forest. The whole bottom quadrant of the map was covered with trees[…] There is less grass here; invasive grass has invaded the area. They have a scent that cattle do not like. So, cattle don’t eat them...”—male Fulani herder.

Complaining about the impact of these social and ecological changes on their daily lives, a female Nuni complained that

“It is much more difficult to get things! In the past, we could collect fuelwood right outside our house, but now we need to walk many kilometers to get fuelwood for cooking.”—female Nuni farmer.

Female Nuni added that the drinking water supply had declined, and water sources had changed, with more reliance on externally funded water infrastructure versus traditional water sources (i.e., ponds and wells). Infrastructure development (i.e., roads and bridge construction) has facilitated the movement of people and goods (i.e., charcoal trade and migration) but decreased the flow, quality, and availability of drinking water in the region. Pointing at a waterpoint in the image, one of the male Nuni said

“This was a water point, but it dried up. In the past, everyone counted on this water point; there was water year-round. Now, water does not stay there long anymore[…] Because of the paved road[…] now there is a bridge and water flows over it.”—male Nuni farmer.

(b)

Different perceptions of what degraded land is

Even though farmers agreed that land is degrading, perceptions of degraded areas, the reasons behind this degradation, and the level of urgency for action differed among livelihood groups (farmers versus herders) and ethnicities. While Nuni and Mossi farmers see wooded and humid zones with dark soil as healthy land suitable for agriculture, Fulani herders find areas with diverse types of grass and trees, but not too moist (with rocky land where cattle can rest), where livestock can graze for up to seven days, as healthy pastureland vital for raising livestock.

Perceptions differed by lived experience in the study area. Native Nuni farmers with a much longer history in the area were more sensitive to these changes than Mossi migrant farmers. Nuni farmers noted the decline in local fauna (e.g., decreased elephant population) and flora (e.g., multipurpose trees such as shea known as Vitelleria paradoxa, Fr.—karité, Mooré—taanga, Fulfuldé—kareje). They have been replaced with mango plantations (Mangifera indica, Fr.—manguier, Mooré—mangue-tiga, Fulfuldé—manngoroohi) among others. These changes have also led to the proliferation of invasive plant and pest species (i.e., fall armyworms—Spodoptera frugiperda, Fr.—chenille légionnaire d’automne) in the area that negatively affect crop production, food security, and human health. A Nuni farmer stated

“We were born here, and we know how the village was before, so we can see that it has changed. But the migrants are new; they do not know how it was before, and it has changed.”—female Nuni farmer.

Unlike the Nuni and Fulani, Mossi migrants still perceived the area as greener and more fertile than their northern and central homelands, encouraging their migration into the area. However, the fact that they did not use any green buttons implies that they did not perceive any areas as greening.

Place of residence within Yallé also impacted where farmers located degraded areas. Nuni farmers who live and use land in the top parts of the image identified more areas as degrading in those areas, particularly in the top left quadrant. Crop and herders identified the top left quadrant of the image as one of the most degraded areas (Figure 3). About 70% of Mossi migrants have settled and cleared forests to build houses and farms in this area, which corresponds to the most densely populated zone. A male herder stated

“All the trees have been cut off; you cannot even find a piece of wood anywhere near this area”—male Fulani herder.

Concerns over land degradation are linked to the (in)ability to fully practice one’s livelihood activity. In fact, one area of the top-right quadrant—showing expanding cropland in the middle of savanna/forest along the borders of the Sissili River—was only identified by farmers as degraded but not by herders. Pointing to that area, herders warned

“This area was good and is still good, but fewer trees exist. It’s degrading but still alright. If nothing more is done, it could be all right; if not, it could get worse.”—male Fulani herder.

In the top-right quadrant (Figure 4), there is farmland but also a substantial amount of vegetation along the Sissili River, which is different from the top-left quadrant (identified as the most degraded area), where extensive agriculture and population pressure have cleared the vegetation and make it almost impossible to grow crops or raise livestock anymore.

Overall, Fulani herders placed more orange buttons than Nuni and Mossi farmers, identifying more degraded areas than farmers. This is linked to their extensive herding practices. Most of the degraded areas identified by the Fulani herders (five out of nine orange buttons) are found in the south (bottom quadrants), which is less densely populated but has many agricultural fields and more grazing land compared to the northern part of the image. The bottom quadrants (Figure 5—which correspond to the pastoral zone—are relatively greener than the rest of the image, with the left quadrant less degraded than the right. The main road separates the pastoral zone from the rest of Yallé. Herders identified the bottom-right quadrant as undergoing increased clearing and extensive slash-and-burn agriculture. To adapt to grass and water scarcity, the herders moved livestock farther south to Ghana (at least 30 km).

3.2. What Causes Change? Different Stories

(a)

Population density

The study participants linked the observed land use and land cover changes to broader historical events and social processes, such as population density and local deforestation, as detailed in

Table 3. Main perceived drivers of land degradation stated across groups.

Drivers	Nuni Farmers	Mossi Farmers	Fulani Herders
Population density	Increased births Mossi migration	Not mentioned	Mossi migration
Deforestation	Nuni and Mossi logging for charcoal production. Road development by the government. Fulani herders cleared the pastoral zone to create agricultural fields.	Nuni farmers log to provide wooden stakes for yam cultivation. Fulani cut branches to feed livestock. Herders set bushfires to get grass to grow.	Mossi “walking” farms even within the borders of the pastoral zone. Mossi slash-and-burn agriculture.

. However, the specific explanations behind demographic growth and deforestation differed among groups. The Nuni and Fulani listed Mossi migration as a driver of increased population density, whereas the Mossi did not provide any demographic drivers of land degradation. According to the Nuni, who have a more extended historical knowledge of the zone, the development of infrastructure, such as the main paved road linking the village to urban centers, has facilitated migration and the booming commercial activities along that road. In addition to these migrations, female Nuni farmers added that increased births contributed to population density, related land use, and land cover changes in the region. Mossi migrants themselves did not identify migration as a cause of land degradation in the village. There was a consensus that people were cutting down more trees than they were planting. Trees were cut for diverse reasons by both migrants and natives, including for agriculture, livestock feed, and charcoal production. Each ethnic group identified another group’s agricultural practices as driving land degradation.

▪

Mossi agriculture

Mossi farmers practice extensive agriculture. This is to assert local political dominance and bring more Mossi to the area. This increases the amount of land the Mossi need and leads to massive conversion of savanna into cropland and cropland encroachment into grazing areas. This collectively leads to land degradation. Extensive agriculture—as practiced by Mossi migrants—was identified by Nuni farmers and Fulani herders as being one of the most significant causes of degradation. Referring to these Mossi practices and the substantial number of farms encroaching into the pastoral zone, a herder said

“Cattle walk. People say farms do not walk, but they do; they move and change places”—male Fulani herder.

The herders discussed Nuni hospitality and flexible customary land tenure arrangements, contrasting the different land management practices adopted by each migrant group. They explained that while migrant herders protect the land to secure grazing for their livestock, Mossi migrants clear vegetation for cropping.

“When the autochthons [Nuni farmers] gave the Fulani the land, the Fulani did not destroy the vegetation. The Fulani cultivate only one area (field) because of the limited space, so they cannot leave the land to fallow. When the land was given to the migrants [Mossi farmers], they came and destroyed their land, and then moved into the Fulani pastoral zone to clear their land, too”—male Fulani herder.

In the past, when a migrant arrived in the village, they were generally welcomed by a host who introduced them to the village as a member of their lineage. After the host introduced the migrant to the land custodian (Fr. “chef de terre”), the migrant could start using the land. But nowadays, some migrants skip that process because they can get land through a Mossi relative already settled in the area. This has increased tensions with the three ethnic groups sharing the area. Frequent encroachment on the pastoral zone and farming near livestock watering points was a significant challenge raised by herders. This encroachment has created new forms of farmer–herder tensions. Herders link land degradation with encroachment, a result of the lack of clear delineation of their pastoral zone from the rest of the area.

“There are no barriers around the zones. We want some signposts to prevent others from coming in… demarcations to show where the pastoral zone is, so people will not clear the land there…”—male Fulani herder.

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Fulani agriculture

In addition to the Mossi’s extensive agriculture, Nuni farmers identified the Fulani’s grassland clearing in the pastoral zone to make agricultural fields as a driver of land degradation. Most Fulani in the area increasingly turn to mixed crop/livestock production as an adaptation strategy to decreased access to grassland and farmer–herder conflicts linked with their seasonal mobility. Fulani youth explained that lots of grassland, including land encroaching on the borders of the pastoral zone, has been cleared by Mossi farmers to free space for agriculture. They also acknowledge that farms within the borders of the pastoral zone have been cleared by the Fulani themselves, who have become agro-pastoralists to adapt to the challenges of only raising livestock. The abundant manure in the pastoral zone has been very beneficial for crop production.

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Nuni agriculture

During fieldwork, a Mossi extension agent from the Ministry of Agriculture noted that yam cultivation has increased logging in the area. Nuni farmers must cut trees to provide stakes that can hold the yam roots. There is also a lot of spacing between planting one root of yam and planting the other. Thus, yam farming takes up a lot of space compared to grain crops.

(b)

Deforestation

Study participants did not link land degradation with global climate change. Still, they noted changing, irregular, and patchy rains in their region as one of the most salient changes, with heavier and irregular rains washing off soil and vegetation. The soil also dries out more quickly. They used Thomas Sankara’s presidency (1983–1987) as a reference point for when rainfall was considered satisfactory. All groups identified logging and bushfires as causing land degradation, but different types of logging and bushfires were identified across groups.

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Mossi and Nuni logging for charcoal production

The informal charcoal business is lucrative, especially for young Nuni and Mossi, who need more income-generating opportunities. Although logging is subject to fines, the charcoal trade is visible in the area, as shown in Figure 6.

Charcoal is produced in rural areas but consumed in urban areas. During fieldwork, young Nuni explained that they learned to make charcoal from their Mossi friends, who harvested most of the wood for charcoal in the top-left (densely populated Mossi settlement) and bottom-right (near and inside the pastoral zone) quadrants of the satellite image to make a living (see Figure 1). In the Yallé area, female Nuni farmers explained that they collected dry wood in the forest for fuel and heavily relied on wild trees for household consumption and medicine.

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Nuni and Fulani tree-cutting

The Mossi did not list logging for charcoal production but identified a different type of tree-cutting involving Nuni farmers and Fulani herders. According to the Mossi, the Nuni cut branches to support each yam root, while the Fulani cut branches to feed livestock. The Mossi listed these practices as drivers of vegetation change, but the Nuni and Fulani did not view their practices as harmful. The Fulani explained that they cut leaves to feed livestock in the dry season, while the Nuni cut branches rather than the entire tree for wooden stakes. Mossi migrants contend that this “cutting” kills trees and contributes to deforestation. But, to the question of whether some areas are being rehabilitated, a herder joked that

“There is no way they’ll have more trees because they [farmers] need to cut them to farm.”—male Fulani herder.

3.3. Adaptation Strategies

During fieldwork, we did not witness any soil or water conservation strategies, such as zaï or contour stone bunds, like those observed in the country’s Central Plateau and northern regions [1,12,28]. Adaptation strategies included using fertilizers, manure to enrich soil, and pesticides and herbicides to control increased pest proliferation. To explain why that was the case, a Nuni crop farmer stated that

“There is a lack of awareness here regarding land degradation. In the northern region, soils are impoverished. People here think we do not need to dig zaï pits or make contour stone bunds like those in the north because they are convinced that soils here are richer compared to places where SWC is heavily used in the north. About 80% of migrants here send about 20–25% of their yields—or up to half in times of crisis– to their relatives in the north. Projects do not come here to invest in SWC because even if they came, people would not listen. But in the long run, we must invest in them.”—male Nuni farmer.

During fieldwork, we also learned that, like Mossi migrants who send part of their production to relatives in arid and semi-arid regions, Fulani herders from drier zones of the country also entrust part of their livestock to relatives who are living in the Yallé pastoral zone where grass is perceived as being more abundant. This also increases the need for pastureland to feed local and entrusted cattle.

4. Discussion

Our study uncovered that farmers and herders have differing views on environmental changes due to their distinct experiences in the study site. Historical droughts, policies, and demographic and socioeconomic factors have also influenced the observed land use patterns. We will explore the reasons behind these varying perspectives and further examine factors that are contributing to land degradation from the participants’ perspectives.

4.1. Perceptions of Change

Evidence from our fieldwork confirmed Nazarea’s [5] argument that perceptions are subjective viewpoints shaped and enacted within a particular society. In our study site, farmers and herders share the same space and are all experiencing environmental changes, but they perceive and cope with these changes differently. Each group perceived degradation differently because of their unique lived experience, which depends on their economic activities, historical experiences, and environmental interactions. That lived experience influences their perception of a “healthy” landscape and their subsequent adaptations. Farmers and herders have unique needs for natural resources. Each group identified areas as degrading based on their expertise and need for specific resources. Fulani herders who are semi-sedentary and regularly move livestock across landscapes identified degraded areas in diverse places across the study site’s bottom and top quadrants. In contrast, Mossi and Nuni farmers who are more sedentary only identified degraded regions in more localized areas in the top part of the image. Mossi conceptions of degraded land refer to land with massive gullies, widespread erosion, and few trees. These conditions predominate in their homelands, which necessitate intensive investments in soil and water conservation (SWC). Thus, the Mossi do not perceive soil degradation around Yallé as alarming because it does not meet their preconceived definition. In contrast, Nuni farmers with a longer-lived experience in the area perceive more changes than migrants. For Mossi and Fulani migrants, migration has long been an adaptation strategy to their marginal environments in Sahelian parts of the country. In destination areas, migrants have a shorter temporal perspective on human-environment change than native Nuni farmers. Nonetheless, among migrant groups, Fulani herders identified more expansive degraded regions than Mossi farmers. Their livelihood strategies explain the different perceptions of degradation. The Fulani are semi-sedentary herders who walk long distances with livestock to grazing areas, sometimes on the outskirts of their village. This led to a more spatially extensive knowledge of vegetation throughout the region. They are more sensitive to the severity of vegetation change due to their high reliance on natural grass, the primary food source for their herds, and their relatively longer resettlement into the area. In contrast, farmers clear land, generally closer to their settlement for extensive farming, and most arrived more recently. Fulani herders did not identify the top-right quadrant (Figure 5) area as degraded, meaning they might still be able to find pasture in this area where the savanna is converted into cropland. Herders identified places with contiguous agriculture as degrading because no more grazing opportunities exist.

Achieving LDN implies a balance between degradation and restoration efforts. The lack of SWC to reverse land degradation partly explains why rural producers did not identify areas of enhanced vegetation or “greening” on the satellite image in the participatory mapping exercises. Satellite imagery shows regreening patterns at a regional scale in the Sahel, but in our study site in southern Burkina Faso, rural producers perceived that land degradation dominates their surroundings. Land degradation and population growth have dramatically reduced productive cropland and pastureland and increased inter-ethnic and farmer–herder tensions in the area. Still, there was no investment in SWC techniques to change this trend because of the perceived lack of interest from producers in the study site who perceived land degradation as less severe.

The lack of restoration efforts observed during fieldwork hinders national LDN efforts to identify and anticipate hotspots. The northern semi-arid zones of the country where land degradation has long been perceived as being more dramatic have received most of the attention, bypassing more humid southern zones such as the Sissili, where increased population pressure linked with in-migration flows into these areas, natural resource extraction, and extensive farming have changed land use and land cover dynamics. In host regions, temporary land use rights may contribute to preventing Mossi migrants from investing in long-term SWC strategies.

4.2. Drivers of Change

The research underscores that the observed land use and land cover changes are deeply intertwined with historical, social, and economic processes. These changes are intricately linked to historical events, such as the droughts in northern and central Burkina Faso during the 1970s and 1980s. The favorable climatic conditions have naturally made the Sissili province one of the lushest and most suitable areas for farming, making it an ideal location for the government to establish a pastoral zone and resettle Fulani herders following the Sahelian droughts. These droughts also spurred a migration of Mossi farmers into more humid regions. The area, less impacted by the droughts, became an appealing destination, resulting in an uptick in population density. Additionally, favorable customary land rights, government policies, and development projects in the province, including infrastructure development, have all influenced the long-term migration of Mossi farmers and the observed land use patterns. Establishing crucial infrastructure, such as the main paved road linking rural areas to urban centers, has further facilitated migration and commercial activities. This infrastructure development and increased births have contributed to higher population density and subsequent land use changes. Population pressures, fueled by both migration and elevated birth rates, have led to a surge in demand for agricultural land and income-generating activities, such as the informal charcoal business, resulting in deforestation.

Mixing satellite imagery and local narratives helped us enormously to gain a more holistic perspective of land use and land cover change in our study area, which is essential when understanding LDN. Regional perspectives on the satellite image helped us identify areas of land degradation and document the underlying causes of land use and land cover changes. In Yallé, local communities deal with the consequences of global environmental change, globalization, and economic development, translated locally through extreme poverty, migrations, natural resource extraction, and land degradation. These issues, combined with systemic local barriers or enablers such as ethnicity, migration status, land tenure, gender, and livelihood activity, affect rural producers’ adaptive capacity and ability to contribute to LDN goals in their respective communities.

Rural producers’ stories from Yallé confirm the complexity of land degradation, which is site-specific and connected to other social and economic issues. Nuni farmers were more concerned about long-term drivers of land degradation, such as massive migration inflows and resulting infrastructure development. Social and cultural differences between migrants and natives could explain why participants identified other ethnic groups’ agricultural practices as driving land degradation. For the Nuni and Fulani, Mossi agriculture poses a severe threat to fertile cropland availability, livestock grazing, and the future of biodiversity in the area.

The Mossi also viewed herders’ practices of cutting branches to feed livestock as harmful to the environment. The paradox is that the Mossi, Nuni, and Fulani do not view their own farming practices as harmful. While each community identified other ethnic groups as driving land degradation, Nuni youth recognized their own involvement in logging for charcoal production as their last resort to gain income. The Nuni making such declarations is facilitated by their native land rights and privileges that migrant groups may not have.

5. Conclusions

Our research sheds light on the complex dynamics of land degradation and restoration, emphasizing the crucial role of perceptions and livelihood strategies in shaping local responses to environmental challenges. Our findings highlight the diversity of perceptions among farmers and herders residing in the same geographical area. Each group’s perception is influenced by their unique economic activities, historical backgrounds, and environmental interactions. This diversity informs their distinct approaches to managing land degradation, highlighting the need to tailor restoration and conservation strategies to accommodate local communities’ varying needs and perspectives.

Our study reveals a gap in efforts to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) due to persistent land degradation exacerbated by population growth and strained inter-ethnic relations. The limited investment in SWC techniques among rural producers signals a missed opportunity to reverse these negative trends. It also indicates a disconnect between national LDN efforts and the realities of local communities, especially in southern zones like the Sissili, which historically receive less attention than more arid northern areas.

The complexities of observed land use and cover changes underscore the need for a holistic approach to addressing land degradation. This approach should aim to foster local engagement and empower communities to participate actively in conservation initiatives, considering their temporal perspectives on land changes and their traditional knowledge of land management practices. By bridging these gaps, fostering inclusive dialogue among stakeholders, and tailoring interventions to reflect the nuanced understandings of local communities, we can enhance the capacity of rural producers to rehabilitate degraded lands according to their own needs. These efforts are crucial for the sustainability of ecosystems and the livelihoods dependent on them, paving the way for a more resilient and equitable future for all stakeholders involved.

In Sahelian countries like Burkina Faso, this study recommends implementing land management programs incorporating community-based monitoring initiatives. These initiatives could harness local observations to identify early indicators of land degradation, such as vegetation or soil quality changes, which may not be detectable through remote sensing technologies alone. This means that governmental and non-governmental institutions should facilitate knowledge exchange between researchers and community members through training, workshops, and demonstration plots. Rehabilitation activities should take ethnically distinct priorities into account. For instance, promoting SWC interventions may be more appropriate for Mossi migrants because they have witnessed the success of such practices in their homelands. By the same token, SWC would not be well-received by Nuni farmers because they already practice more sustainable forms of agriculture and have no experience with these techniques. Last, Fulani herders would likely have no interest in SWC because they cultivate very small plots that are naturally enriched by the manure of their animals.

In the context of Sissili, understanding the human dimensions of land degradation is crucial, as this region feeds its residents and urban dwellers in other areas through cattle entrustment, food sharing, and trade. Addressing complex livelihood problems intertwined with ethnic tensions is particularly important, considering challenges such as farmer–herder conflicts and xenophobia. In this process, participatory mapping is a proven useful tool for empowering communities by enabling them to present their perspectives against traditional scientific expert views. However, it has potential biases, limited spatial accuracy, and may require technical and financial resources. Future research should consider experimenting with various participatory data collection methods, along with individual interviews within each ethnic group, to mitigate these limitations and achieve a fine-grained understanding of land degradation.