Rural emptiness and its influence on subsistence farming in contemporary Gabon : a case study in Loango National Park.

摘要

In sub-Saharan Africa, rural exodus leads to increasing unemployment in urban centresudand to the disorganisation of farming practice in rural areas. This article draws on dataudfrom participant observation and interviews to analyse how rural exodus, combined withuda population density that was already low, led to what we refer to as rural emptiness inudGabon, and how this affects farmers’ livelihoods. Farming in Gabon is largely slash andudburn agriculture with a gender division of labour and therefore requires both men andudwomen. Farming practices at our study site, in Loango National Park, follow audtraditional pattern, but the labour force has been reshaped by demographic and socialudchange. The exodus of young people, especially men, has left ageing farmers withudincreased workloads but decreased access to labour. Subsistence farming is, therefore, inuda state of crisis and farmers’ livelihoods are threatened. Promoting the development ofudfarming and rendering rural life more appealing through the development of roads andudother infrastructure could reverse current trends of high unemployment, weakenedudagricultural production and high dependence on imported food in Gabon.