Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
improved medical care that has drastically reduced
infant mortality and extended lifespan. Unfortunately,
birth rates have not decreased and all countries are
burdened with some of the highest growth rates in the
world: in the 1980s, 3 per cent and 2.9 per cent for
Sudan and Niger, respectively. Technical advances in
human medicine also applied to veterinary science,
with the result that herd sizes grew to keep pace with
population growth. In the Sudan between 1924 and
1973, livestock numbers increased fivefold, abetted by
international aid development and the reduction of
cattle diseases. The government responded to these
increases during past droughts by providing money
for construction of wells and dams. Otherwise, the
national neglect was chronic. Subsistence farming is
the primary economic activity of 80-90 per cent of
people in the Sahel. Almost 90 per cent of the popula-
tion is illiterate, and four of the countries making up
the Sahel are among the twelve poorest countries in
the world, and getting poorer.
During the first series of droughts, in the 1960s, the
collapse of agriculture was so total that outward migra-
tion began immediately. By 1970, 3 million people in
the west Sahel had been displaced and needed emer-
gency food. The international response was minimal.
When the drought hit Ethiopia, aid requests to the
central government were ignored. As the drought
continued into 1971, large dust storms spread south-
ward. The United States was responsible for
80 per cent of aid and Canada, a further 9 per cent,
even though many of the afflicted countries had once
been French colonies. The fifth year of the drought
saw not only community groups but also national
governments overwhelmed by the effects. Outward
migration of nomads led to conflict with pastoralists
over wells, dams and other watering areas. Intertribal
conflicts increased. Migration to the cities swelled
urban populations, leading to high unemployment
and large refugee camps, often resented by locals.
Migrations occurred beyond political - but not
necessarily traditional - borders. Up to a third of
Chad's population emigrated from the country.
Chronic malnutrition and the accompanying diseases
and complaints - such as measles, cholera, smallpox,
meningitis, dysentery, whooping cough, malaria, schis-
tosomiasis, trypanosomiasis, poliomyelitis, hepatitis,
pneumonia, tuberculosis, and intestinal worms -
overwhelmed medical services. Chronic malnutrition
usually results in death, but not necessarily by
starvation. Lack of nutrition makes the body more
prone to illness and disease, and less able to recover.
As far as aid efforts were concerned, 'the silence was
deafening'. By 1972, every national government and
international aid group knew of the magnitude of the
disaster, but no plan for drought relief was instituted.
The countries were either politically unimportant, or
everyone believed the drought would end with the next
rainy season. A survey of the natural disasters covered
in the
New York Times
between 1968 and 1975 shows
no references to the Sahelian drought. After 1972,
national governments gave up and relied completely
upon international aid to feed over 50 million people.
Six west African countries were bankrupted. In the
sixth year of the drought, the first medical survey was
carried out. In Mali, 70 per cent of children, mostly
nomads, were found to be dying from malnutrition.
In some countries, food distribution had failed
completely and people were eating any vegetation
available. Until 1973, only the United States was
contributing food aid. The Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations did not
begin relief efforts until May 1973, the sixth year of
the drought, when it established the Sahelian Trust
Fund. The difficulties of transporting food aid were
insurmountable. Sahelian transport infrastructure was
either non-existent or antiquated. Seaports could not
handle the unloading of such large volumes of food.
The railroad inland from Dakar, Senegal, was over-
committed by a factor of 5-10. Where the railways
ended, road transport was often lacking or broken
down. Eventually, camel caravans were pressed into
service to transport grain to the most destitute areas. In
some cases, expensive airlifts were utilized. In 1973,
only 50 per cent of the required grain got through; in
1974, the seventh year of the drought, this proportion
rose to 75 per cent. In some cases, the aid was entirely
ineffective. For instance, grain rotted in ports, found
its way to the black market or was of low quality.
The environmental impact of the drought was
dramatic. Grasslands, overgrazed by nomads moving
out of the worst hit areas, subsequently fell victim to
wind deflation. The process of desertification acceler-
ated along all margins of the Sahara. Between 1964 and
1974, the desert encroached upon grazing land 150 km
to the south. Yet the lessons of this drought were
ignored. By the early 1980s, and despite the death toll
of the early 1970s, the population of the Sahel grew by
30-40 per cent. At this time, five of the world's nine
