Comparative Regional Geography in India and West Africa: Soils, Landforms and Economic Theory in Agricultural Development Strategies
A classic exercise in geography consists of explaining the levels of economic development achieved by different regions with respect to their physical characteristics. In this paper a parallel is drawn between the agricultural systems of southern India and Sudano-Sahelian Africa, where possibilist theory, often dismissive of physical geography, has led authors to consider that Tamil Nadu agriculture should serve as a model of development for Africa. This idea is challenged by new evidence revealing that, in spite of superficial bioclimatic similarities, the greater fertility of Indian red soils may actually account for much of Tamil Nadu's advantage. Agricultural implications are discussed and show that physical determinants play an important part, too often overlooked in planning strategies devised by technocrats, in traditional human land management patterns. These findings are then input to a discussion on the possibilism vs. environmental determinism debate, introducing examples from the Calcutta hinterland and semi-arid Africa, in an attempt to moderate existing cut-and-dried theories on population growth, cultural identity, management of resources and land capability.