The Sahel desertified

Photo credit: Ocean World

Map of the Sahel in North Africa. Some scientists include Eritrea in the Sahel. From Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report on Ecosystems and Human Well-Being Desertification Synthesis.

Desertification In The Sahel

EXCERPT

What is the Sahel?

The Sahel is the semi-arid transition region between the Sahara desert to the north and wetter regions of equatorial Africa to the south. It extends from the Atlantic in the west to the Indian ocean in the east. It has high variability of rainfall, and the land consists of stabilized ancient sand seas. It is one of the poorest and most environmentally degraded areas on earth.

Human Dimensions of Sahel Land Degradation

The drying of the Sahel in the late 20th century caused widespread famine that attracted world-wide attention, including the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) in Nairobi, Kenya in 1977, the 1993 Convention to Combat Desertification, the 2006 International Year of the Desert and Desertification, and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

The studies show that climate change strongly influences the Sahel in recent decades, but it is only part of the story:

Rainfall variability is a major driver of vulnerability in the Sahel. However, blaming the ‘environmental crisis’ on low and irregular annual rainfall alone would amount to a sheer oversimplification and misunderstanding of the Sahelian dynamics. Climate is nothing but one element in a complex combination of processes that has made agriculture and livestock farming highly unproductive. Over the last half century, the combined effects of population growth, land degradation (deforestation, continuous cropping and overgrazing), reduced and erratic rainfall, lack of coherent environmental policies and misplaced development priorities, have contributed to transform a large proportion of the Sahel into barren land, resulting in the deterioration of the soil and water resources. From From United Nations Environmental Programme, World Agroforestry Center. Climate Change and Variability in the Sahel Region: Impacts and Adaptation Strategies in the Agricultural Sector.

The human influences include:

1. Population increase. Population is doubling every 20 years. The growth rate of population (3% per year) exceeds the growth rate of food production (2% per year). The total population is around 260,000,000 people.
2. Poverty. Per capita income varies from $500/year in Burkina Faso to $1,000/year in Mali to $2,000/year in Nigeria. In contrast, the per capita income in France, German, and the UK is about $35,000/year. All are estimates for 2007. The area includes three of the four poorest countries on earth.
3. Over grazing, poor farming methods, and use of trees and vegetation for firewood. Overgrazing and poor agricultural practices lead to soil erosion, further degrading the land. The traditional Parkland system (integrated crop-tree-livestock systems), which is the predominant land use system and the main provider of food, nutrition, income, and environmental services, is rapidly degrading — woody biodiversity and cover is being lost, and soil fertility is declining from already low levels through exhaustive cropping practices and soil erosion. From West Africa Drylands Project.

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Originally published at desertification.wordpress.com on February 16, 2015.