Well, according to the International Development Research Centre, this pastoralist is tracking his cattle using a Global Positioning System connected to the internet.

He is using a website called Cyber-shepherd, which contains maps of various areas of the Sahel - indicating where he can find good pasture and how many animals he can fill up there.

Many Fulani men have been given these GPS units in a trial run of the Cyber-shepherd project.

"Before the project, it was very hard for herders to get information, because they had to wait for the louma (market) or go off to see for themselves where they should take their animals during the seasonal migration," says Issa Ndiaye, a livestock expert at the Thiel PU.

So far so good. But just take a look at the Cyber-shepherd website, imagining you are an illiterate Fulani herder seeking pasture for your cows. (Hint - the maps are in the section U.Pastorales/Cartographie/...)

No wonder that cyber-shepherds all over the Sahel are smashing up their GPS units and returning sheepishly to the market.

The comment of project leader Professor Yalacé Kaboret?
"We are now thinking about using simpler tools and means for the second phase."