A case study of the drought of 1968–73, and the famines of the 1970s in the in the six West African countries of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Upper Volta, Niger, and Chad. The famines are analysed in terms of food availability decline (FAD) vis à vis entitlements, occupational status of the destitutes, and their entitlements. The most susceptible groups were the nomadic pastoralists and the sedentary agriculturalists. The last part of the chapter addresses some policy issues relating to the freeing of the Sahelian population from vulnerability to drought and famine.
Keywords: agriculturalists, case studies, destitution, drought, entitlements, famine, food availability decline, nomads, pastoralists, Sahel, West Africa