Tag Archives: Sahel

Drought: We’re All In This Together

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It seems like we’ve talked a lot about drought on this blog lately. Last year at this time we were calling attention to the Horn of Africa. Since then we’ve talked about the Sahel region in West Africa and even more recently about the dry conditions that have been wreaking havoc for farmers right here in the United States.

But yesterday’s op-ed by Roger Thurow over at Farmers Feeding the World serves as a reminder that, no matter where farmers are struggling to coax their seedlings out of the ground, drought affects all of us everywhere.

Thurow begins with an anecdote about a Kenyan farmer praying for rain, knowing that if the rains did not come, he could not eat. That prayer, Thurow tells us, was offered in March of 2011. He then draws the parallel that that prayer could be uttered by a number of farmers—large-scale or small—in many parts of the world. The difference is, the United States has safety nets for farmers whose yields are lower than normal whereas farmers in the developing world typically do not.

And that’s the crux of Thurow’s piece. Just like the farmer in Kenya who says he’ll pray for rain for the farmers in Texas, so should all of us support the efforts of agencies, organizations, governments, and any other entity working to expand and improve agricultural development in the places where farmers aren’t guaranteed help if their crop fails.

Like Thurow says, “we’re all in this together.”

 

Crisis in the Sahel

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Though it hasn’t received much news coverage here in the United States, there’s another part of Africa facing a food crisis. This time it’s the Sahel region that stretches across the continent between the Sahara and the lusher areas to the south that’s feeling the effects of drought, rising food prices, and in some areas, conflict and locusts.

It is estimated that about 13 million people are in need after the rains failed last year,

Children share a mid-afternoon meal of millet porridge in Diarrere, Senegal.

prolonging a drought that has made it difficult for families to grow food in a place where the growing season is already very short. It remains to be seen what kind of rainy season the region will face this year.

Food prices also rose for the third time in three straight months in March, making it that much more difficult for families who have little to pay for the food that with which they would normally supplement their diets.

The U.S. has sent nearly 40,000 tons of sorghum to the region with it’s expected arrival at the end of the month. UNICEF is also working to raise awareness of the crisis, particularly through its social media channels. They’re right to point out that, like what happened in the Horn of Africa last year, this crisis is preventable.

In Senegal, Heifer has helped the people in this region manage the dry conditions for the past two years, and has prepared them for precisely the kind of situation the region is facing now. Heifer’s projects have equipped participants with a short-haired sheep specially suited to area’s heat, goats, pigs and seeds that can thrive even in the Sahel soil.

Participants are also spreading manure on the nutrient-depleted soils to replenish them, and planting acacia trees to provide shade and help the soil hold water and not blow away.

It’s a long-term solution for an acute problem, yes, but it’s providing people with the means to survive and thrive in changing climates and conditions.

In Context: Crops of the Sahel

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

The Sahel is home to cowpeas, pigeon peas, groundnut, green grams and chick peas but millet and sorghum are the two most vital food crops of the Sahel.

Millet Photo courtesy of aivo2010, Creative Commons

Millet is a group of annual grasses that are mainly found in arid or semi-arid regions in the world, normally found growing in places that barley and wheat are unable to thrive. The small seeds that come from these grasses are usually cultivated as cereal.

Sorghum, also used in cereal, is the fifth most important cereal after wheat, rice, maize and  barley. Usually grown in areas that is too hot and dry for most crops to produce, it is somewhat more ecologically advanced and is considered to be drought tolerant.

It is easier to grow in drier areas because of the following:

  • Reduced leaf area and thus reduced water loss through transpiration

 

Sorghum Photo courtesy of TREEAid, Creative Commons

  • The above ground parts of the plant grow only after the root system is well established
  • Competes favorably with most weeds

Because sorghum is drought tolerant doesn’t mean that there is plenty of it growing when nothing else will survive. Sorghum remains dormant during drought and will only resume growth when conditions are favorable.

Take a few minutes and watch this video from www.cnn.com. It details the food crisis in the Sahel and shows us what’s being done by agencies like UNICEF to help alleviate malnutrition and hunger caused by the regions most recent drought.

In Context: Climate Change in the Sahel

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Northern Cameroon lies in the Sahel region. Described as “thirsty“, it has high levels of food insecurity and chronic malnutrition. It is one of the poorest places on Earth. The region, which stretches across northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea has experienced a series of droughts since the 17th century that have served as a catalyst for famine and severe environmental degradation.

Agriculture and livestock have long been a part of the sahelian tradition. However, because of the environmental hits that the area has endured over the years combined with recent drought, the people of the Sahel are more food insecure than before. In northern Cameroon, it is estimated that since 2010, 124,000 children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating women are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Photo by Patrick Hoesly, courtesy of Creative Commons
The Sahel gets about 60 days of rain a year and the region’s farmers need that rain in order to make sure that whatever crops they have planted will grow in time for the dry season. On the flip side, the climate change that is responsible for those very droughts are also responsible for sudden and intense freak rain storms that do more harm than good. Because the land is so dry, it can’t absorb water quickly enough and so the soil erodes. Whatever nutrients that were in the soil are washed away and anything that had been planted will either die or become an unhealthy and underproductive crop.
In an effort to adapt, the Sahelian people are learning new techniques to improve crop yields and to try to slow down the desertification that is hitting the region. Check out this video that demonstrates some techniques that are being implemented by NGOs in the region.