The idea of a nomadic agriculture:

The Sahel problematic is based on several issues:
- irregular rainfalls
- fires
- locust invasions
- violence between tribes
- increase of urban population

This results in a regression of food production in this zone. Until now it is impossible to create an overall system of food production, as it is linked to each country and each tribal culture. This is a proposition for increasing the general food production by moving around, following the rainfalls, and dodging the locusts. If a certain number of tribes become nomadic, they can grow crops in better conditions, increase the cultural exchange between settled tribes. So, there is not only a constant food production but also an exchange of techniques and an evolutive improvement of the soil quality.

The nomadic principles are:
- Using the local energies
- Using agriculture principles like conservative agriculture and integrated agriculture*
- Using evolved technologies in a not technocratic way
Like all other nomadic culture, the agricultural nomads have to use local ressources, like water, sun and soil to adapt their (agri)culture. So the production may vary from one point to another, which gives the soil the possibility of regeneration.

* Integrated and conservatice agriculture are based on not intensive farming, reducing the labour and increasing the general long term production of a region by improving the quality of the soil. For example: plants are introduced into the existing soil wuthout damaging the erosive resistant exterior layer. The remains after harvesting are not removed and protect the soil from erosion and in long term create a small layer of humus.

Food as social organization 

The food production needs not only one type of competence. To plant and harvest crops you need several social actors, reaching today from the basic farm worker to satellite engineers.

Food production can be a rewarding production as long as its actors are socially mixed. Statistically it is possible to grow 1-2tons of basic crops on one ha of land. You need 1 person/2ha to guarantee the growth of the crops. So with 20 people you can create an possible farming business in Sahel regions. These values are not accurate for it is impossible to find statistics in these areas. But the project is based on a group of 20 people. 20 people need 10 buggies for transportation so the number limit for machines is 10. The tribal culture of this part of the world has a new kind of problem: dealing with the so called “Globalisation”. Young people rarely get a chance for education, and if they have got the opportunity, they never return to their lands to farm. So in either way they are more and more moving to the cities to find a better and more rewarding job for the future. This leaves the land empty and creates cities of despair and overpopulation. So the agricultural areas have to be made more attractive, not only to save the local culture, the youth and the food production of these fragile countries, but also to fight the desolation of the landscape. Global warming is a thread to these regions if the soil is not regularly worked, planted and irrigated. Some projects show that it is possible to reverse the drying out. This would have a major impact on the general climatic situation. The use of conservative agriculture makes it possible to use modern techniques and the on the field knowledge with possibilities of improvement.

Food as environmental attitude

The environmental attitude is more a need than an ethic position. If nomadic agriculture is to work, it has to use all the awailable ressources in a very economic way. Of course the most important ressource is water. Without water, agriculture gets impossible, 68% of all water used around the world is for irrigation. Below the Sahel region are ground water reserves. These are quite deep, but usable. So the drilling unit is creating a temporary well that will only be used for irrigation. As the soil stays intact during the whole process, the irrigation water returns to these natural reserves. The water for human needs is mostly coming from the stocks and the recuperation through condensation. So the awerage water loss due to consumption is around 10%. The water will also be used as energy converter to power the buggies and the machinerie. It is possible with simple photovoltaic receptors to create fuel cells with water. Most of the systems actually in test are more complex cells, but they are engineered for maximum output. As the solar power in this region is a very strong power resource, water cells do fine.

Context: Peter Cook Workshop 2006