Les grands projets d'irrigation et les dynamiques de proximité dans le Sahel

Since colonial times, in the Sahel-Sudan belt large-scale irrigation schemes were developed along the main waterways (the Nile, the Niger, the Senegal, the Logone). The first objective of this paper is to illustrate the outcomes of the large-scale irrigation schemes in terms of geographical, organizational, institutional, cognitive and social (according to Boschma, 2005). The second objective is to observe what happens to these proximities when these large-scale projects go through recurring crises. In the end, the emergence of new proximity configurations is highlighted. These new configurations may constitute the core of innovative and possibly more sustainable models of local development. These “large-scale projects” are made up of massive infrastructure and activate proximity dynamics. They bring closer what was once far (the rural peripheries to the political and economic centres, and the productive areas to the global markets). Circulation and communication networks modify the relative distance. At the same time, however, large-scale schemes distance what was once near: they create a spatial separation that keeps the project area at a distance from the local context. The generalized extension of the large-scale irrigation schemes has redrawn the Sahel area in its physical, social and economic geography. Through the projects, governments and large development organizations thought they could give a boost to a rapid modernization of the societies and the local cultures. Yet the history of the irrigation schemes has been a tormented one. Significant problems arose immediately. The projects have gone through recurring phases of crisis: in some cases production was paralyzed. Large areas set up for irrigation and mechanized farming were abandoned. Modernized farming has not given the expected results and the proximities implemented by the projects have been weakened. Local areas are reacting by creating, by trial and error and with an unplanned approach, new forms of proximity.