Presentation of the region
Arbollé is home to a commune of ten villages with a population of 10 179 inhabitants. The other 27 villages have a population of 26 790, by the census of 1985. Taking into account the average annual population growth rate of 6.37% in rural areas, the current population is estimated at 55 808.
Arbollé is home to a number of technical and administrative services, including:
- The rural commune of Arbollé
- The Prefecture, administrative seat of the Department
- An Environmental Service
- An Agriculture Service
- An animal Herding and Husbandry Service
- A Primary School Board
- Education infrastructure (public elementary and secondary schools)
- A Health and Sanitation Service (CSPS)
The primary activity of the residents of the department is the culture of cereals such as pearl millet, sorghum and several cash crops such as peanut, cowpea and beans. The soils are strained by continual degradation, which make agriculture very difficult. The population practices small-scale animal husbandry to supplement their cultivation, often raising sheep, goats, poultry and cattle. The poor condition of the soils has persisted since the great droughts of 1973. The consequence of this situation has been an increase in the intensity and extent of poverty and a resulting increase in misery.
The sudano-sahelian vegetation is in a state of constant degradation, and to date, efforts at reforestation have proven insufficient in reversing this tendency.
Vegetation cover in the region has been in a constant state of retreat in the last few years. The environmental needs of the population exceed the capacity of the natural resources available to satisfy them: wild fruits and grains and wood for cooking and construction are becoming increasingly rare. In many areas, once-productive land has been abandoned and with the increasing rarity of rain, the region’s ecosystem is degrading at an ever accelerating pace.