Livestock market dynamics and local vulnerabilities in the Sahel

World Development;30(4): 683-705

As institutions that facilitate the conversion of livestock to grain and adjust livestock populations to local forage availabilities, livestock markets play important economic and ecological roles in dryland Africa. Using a comprehensive database of 1,580 sales of livestock owned by members of 54 households in western Niger over a major drought-and-recovery cycle (1984-94), the effect of real livestock markets on stocking decisions and the economic vulnerability of rural households was investigated. While livestock markets are shown to facilitate destocking of animals from drought areas, price formation is socially-biased *by gender, weather, residence) reflecting the differential access and powers within local markets.