GEOG10001 Lecture 7: GEOG10001 - W7L2
28 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Decreased rainfall, relative to long term reference, from ~1968. Reduced rainfall came after an unusually wet decade. Reduced supply of water for irrigated crops like sorghum and rice. Reduced production for domestic consumption e. g. mali: 40% reduction in sorghum in 1973. Reduced production of cash crops for export e. g. senegal: peanut production halved. Reduced output from small farms (non-irrigated agriculture) Protracted drought saw progressive failure of adaptations over time. Eating seeds intended for next year"s crop. Mass migration to more fertile (savanna) southern areas and towns. Cutting trees to use as animal feed (increased desertification) Famines occur if and only if there is a sharp decline in the average food availability per head. It could be argued, such a decline did take place for the sahelian countries as a group during the drought of 1969-73. In the peak year of famine, 1973, the decline in food availability per head was rather small.
