Desertification in Africa: Causes and Effects
Desertification in Africa
Land covers “ 14.9 billion hectares of the earth’s face”. According to the United Nations data,
“ 6.1 billion hectares are dryland” of which one billion hectares are
“ naturally hyper arid desert”(www.eden-foundation.org). The rest has either become desert or is being threatened by desertification. This natural process has caused misery among those most directly caught in its path, turning productive land into dryland.
(Mensching, 7). The Sahel- the world’s largest dryland- is the south area of the North African
Sahara and characterized by extreme land degradation.
In the late 1970s, the countries of Sahel entered a severe phase of drought after a period of good rainfall years in the 1950s. It was a multi- year drought that contributed to the death of over 300,000 people and five million livestock (www.eden-foundation.org). However, it is a misconception that droughts are responsible for desertification. Droughts do increase the rate of land degradation on non-irrigated land if the “carrying captivity is exceeded” (Thomas and
Middleton, 113). Well-managed land will though recover of droughts with minimal “ adverse effects” (Thomas and Middleton, 114). The continuation of land abuse during good periods and its continues action during periods of “ deficient rainfall” (Thomas and Middleton, 114), causes desertification. One reason for land abuse is the mismanaging of irrigation, an issue of dryland agriculture for centuries. Irrigation is an aid to overcome the drought periods in crop production. The irrigation scheme has rapidly increased according to the intensification of the crop production during the last ten years (Thomas and Middleton, 71).
Unfortunately, many difficulties arise from “ over- application of water, poor drainage and waterlogging” (Mensching, 47). This mismanaging of irrigation causes salinazation, which leads to fruitless soil: The salt tolerance of most cultivated plants is relatively low, so the
Land covers “ 14.9 billion hectares of the earth’s face”. According to the United Nations data,
“ 6.1 billion hectares are dryland” of which one billion hectares are
“ naturally hyper arid desert”(www.eden-foundation.org). The rest has either become desert or is being threatened by desertification. This natural process has caused misery among those most directly caught in its path, turning productive land into dryland.
(Mensching, 7). The Sahel- the world’s largest dryland- is the south area of the North African
Sahara and characterized by extreme land degradation.
In the late 1970s, the countries of Sahel entered a severe phase of drought after a period of good rainfall years in the 1950s. It was a multi- year drought that contributed to the death of over 300,000 people and five million livestock (www.eden-foundation.org). However, it is a misconception that droughts are responsible for desertification. Droughts do increase the rate of land degradation on non-irrigated land if the “carrying captivity is exceeded” (Thomas and
Middleton, 113). Well-managed land will though recover of droughts with minimal “ adverse effects” (Thomas and Middleton, 114). The continuation of land abuse during good periods and its continues action during periods of “ deficient rainfall” (Thomas and Middleton, 114), causes desertification. One reason for land abuse is the mismanaging of irrigation, an issue of dryland agriculture for centuries. Irrigation is an aid to overcome the drought periods in crop production. The irrigation scheme has rapidly increased according to the intensification of the crop production during the last ten years (Thomas and Middleton, 71).
Unfortunately, many difficulties arise from “ over- application of water, poor drainage and waterlogging” (Mensching, 47). This mismanaging of irrigation causes salinazation, which leads to fruitless soil: The salt tolerance of most cultivated plants is relatively low, so the
Bibliography: Middleton, Nicholas J. and Thomas, David S. G., 1994 Desertification: Exploding the Myth. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. Mensching, Horst G., 1990 Desertifakation. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt. www. eden-foundation.org/procejt/desertif.html. (18.07.13.)