1. Issues in the study of the Demography of Sahelian Pastoralists and Agro-pastoralists 2. The Recent Demographic Surveys in Mali and their main Findings 3. The Enumeration of Nomads and Semi-Nomads: Methodology and Selected Results from the 1976 Census of Mali 4. A Demographic Profile of the Fulani and Central Mali with Special Emphasis on Infant and Child Mortality 5. Demographic Characteristics and Trends Amongst the Nomads of Mauritania 6. Mixed Herding and the Demographic Parameters of Domestic Animals in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Tropical Africa 7. Land Tenure Practice and Development Problems in Mali 8. The Reluctant Spouse and the Illegitimate Slave 9. Child Mortality and the Care of Children in Rural Mali 10. Nutrition Amongst a Group of WoDaaBe Pastoralists in Niger 11. Preliminary Findings on the Diet and Nutritional Status of Some Tamasheq and Fulani groups in the Niger Delta of Central Mali 12. Assessing the Components of Seasonal Stress Amongst Fulani of the Seno-Mango, Central Mali 13. Design of a Food Intake Study in two Bambara Villages in the Ségou Region of Mali with Preliminary Findings 14. The Health of Nomads and Semi-Nomads of the Malian Gourma 15. The World Fertility Survey

This collection of studies, first published in 1985, describes some contemporary problems of selected pastoral and agro-pastoral communities of the West African Sahel. Several important features of the Sahel are illustrated: the significance of seasonal factors in causing periodic stress amongst people and animals, the economic uncertainty introduced by interannual climactic variations, as well as the role of traditional systems of social and economic organisation in providing some support during periods of need.

The findings presented here are published in co-operation with the Sahel Institute, a regional research organisation set up in the early 1970s with representation from eight Sahelian countries - Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Upper Volta.