172 In général it is recommended that monitormg studies be started (e g by usmg thé same villages) to find easy early warmng indicators of stress by combming efforts of the Mmistry of Energy, Mmistry of Food and Agriculture, Mmistry of Lands and Forests, the Meteorological Service and strategie persons in the région Chapter 13 PATHWAYS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN MALI: THE DISTRICTS OF DOUENTZA AND KOUTIALA COMPARED Han van Dijk, Mirjam de Bruijn and Wouter van Beek Abstract Two Malian case studies are compared both representing dryland areas with relatively low population densities and relatively low levels of land dégradation Douentza is m the semi-and to and zone, where erop cultivation is very nsky and pastoralism a more natural' way of making use of the environment However, recently erop cultivation has been expandmg rapidly and has partialty recovered from the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s Crop cultivation now provides a livelihood for impovenshed former pastorahsts (hke FulBe and Tamachek), but also for groups who have always been cultivators (hke the Dogon) Many people ongmating from this area have extended their geographical network and can be found in areas much further to the South Many retam their relations with their areas of ongm, though Koutiala is an area m the sub humid zone and m a région which benefited from the Malian cotton boom economy of the 1980s and 1990s Not only did the local Mmyanka prosper the expandmg economy also provided a livelihood for many immigrants who had escaped the drought conditions of the northern area 1. INTRODUCTION Chmate change is not a phenomenon that can be instantly observed It mamfests itself m small, graduai changes m température, evaporation and ramfall figures However, m thé long term, climate change can hâve a tremendous effect, for example when the growing of a certain erop is no longer possible In semi-and environments, the variations m agro- ecological conditions m time and space are so gréât that small changes are hard to detect Climate change, therefore, tends to manifest itself as an mcrease m extrême events such as excessive ramfall or, at the 173 AJ Dlctz et al (edç ) The Impact of Clwiate Change on Dryland 1 , With a Foui\ on West Afnta î 73-206 O 2004 Ktittvei Academie Pltbliihtn, Pnntcd in thc Netheihmd:*