No rain, no grain? Ethnoarchaeology of sorghum and millet cultivation in dryland environments of Sudan, Pakistan, and Ethiopia

Abstract

Drylands cover more than 40% of the earth’s land surface, are found on all continents, and are home to 30% of the world’s population. Due to water scarcity, they are generally considered unsuitable for lasting human settlement. While pastoralism has been reconceptualized recently as a rational, efficient, and sustainable way to live in drylands, agriculture without irrigation is generally considered unfeasible in hyper-arid and arid drylands. This article presents data collected in ethnographic interviews in dryland areas in three countries, Sudan, Pakistan, and Ethiopia, to document and understand the cultivation practices of pearl millet, finger millet, and sorghum in drylands. Contrary to general trends favoring adoption of more water-intensive crops, our results show that farming without irrigation represents a viable strategy even where rainfall is considered insufficient. We argue that it is important to recognize the sustainability and value of dryland agricultural systems, past, present, and future.