While much of West Africa is experiencing loss of woodland and forest cover from expanding cultivation, Senegal's major agricultural region - the Peanut Basin - is witnessing the opposite: agricultural lands are being abandoned, and replaced with tree-dotted savannas. This pair of Landsat images shows the growing patchwork of savannas (greenish patches) where peanut and millet crops once prevailed. This phenomenon is not the result of a planned land management program. Rather, it stems from recent trends in out-migration. The drop in world market prices for peanuts, drought, and the removal of government agricultural subsidies have made it difficult for farmers in the region to continue to farm. Since the 1980s, many have left in search of new livelihoods in Senegal's urban areas, including Darou-Mousty (upper right), and the major centers of Touba and Dakar (not shown) as well as abroad. Those who have stayed are enjoying the benefits of a revived rotational fal-low system, large tracts of grazing land for a growing livestock economy, and diversification into other cash crops. Hundreds of villages can be seen scattered throughout this region (dark spots).
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