The Impact of Cooperation on Stock Densities and Mobility: A Case Study from Niger

Abstract

"Since 1993, the government of Niger has begun implementing a new rural code that attempts to redefine the access, use, and management of natural resources in Niger. Successful implementation requires that the importance of environmental variability and the use of land for both agricultural and pastoral activities contribute to a new definition of land tenure in Niger. The purpose of this paper is therefore twofold: to contribute, using quantitative methods, to the common-pool rangeland/ mobility debate and to contribute to a better understanding of the situation in Niger-a prerequisite for developing changes in the land tenure system that benefits all users. A short review of the literature specific to Niger is presented in the second section. This is followed by a review of the theoretical literature on common property, resource management, mobility, and risk, leading to a proposed model of pastoral production systems. In the third section, we discuss survey methodology and present descriptive statistics for sample communities. Results from model estimation are presented in the fourth section. We conclude by discussing policy implications and extensions to the existing model."