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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In five pages this paper examines the issues associated with the desertification of the African Sahel reason with historical background, causes and effects, and possible solutions to this problem among the topics discussed. Six sources are listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGdesahel.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
layer. Until relatively recently, the phenomenon known as desertification has received very little media attention, and yet the process itself is "as old as civilization" (Rogers, 1977, p. 282).
As its name implies, desertification is the progression by which land is transformed into arid regions that receive little rain and are incapable of sustaining much in terms of
vegetation. This gradual land degradation is attributed to abuse and overuse of land by either natural or human means due to extreme weather conditions, deforestation, and overgrazing (Suhrke, 1994).
The impact of desertification is slow, but devastating nevertheless. Deterioration of land means that agricultural productivity in affected areas are virtually nil to the extent of being rendered
unable to sustain plant, animal, and human life (Suhrke, 1994). The African Sahel has been ravaged by desertification to the point that the causes and effects of this process
must be critically assessed so that possible solutions can be implemented before it is too late. According to Benjaminsen & Lund (2001), the Sahel is the West African "drylands" that
also include the southern portion of the Sudan (p. 10). The picture of the resource-depleted Sahel bears little resemblance to the trading empire that once existed in the Sahara
(Brough & Kimenyi, 2004). Although there was the occasional drought-induced famine, the early nomadic and sedentary farm peoples who occupied this region were able to adapt livestock and agricultural
practices that enabled them to survive natures extremes, rebound quickly, and actually flourish (Brough & Kimenyi, 2004). Land was a communal enterprise with no concept of property rights developed,
and the farming system that emerged - while primitive - was efficient for regional production to prosper. However, when the French migrated to West Africa in the latter portion
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