Crossing the sands: the role of traditional caravan trading in the 21st century

In recent decades, truck-based, cross-border food trade in West African countries has rapidly increased. Although such motorized transport enables fast movement of large volumes of goods, the question remains whether traditional forms of long-distance trade with caravans, which were of great importance in the past, continue to function as an element of social and ecological connectivity. By integrating historical records with recent GPS tracking of selected camel caravans and surveys with caravan leaders in Niger, we analyse the evolution of caravan trading practices over time and their role in present-day global trade. Our findings show that the great salt caravan across the Ténéré Desert (Aïr Mountains – Bilma/Fachi – Aïr Mountains – Hausaland) continues to operate annually, albeit on a smaller scale (length, duration, number of animals) than in the past. We hypothesize that the persistence of caravan trading is linked to social and cultural factors, such as social status, prestige, and encoded values, rather than economic efficiency, product quality, and transport time. We further argue that the flexibility and adaptability of caravan trading systems operating in a highly volatile environment of changing political and ecological conditions play a critical role in their continued existence.