| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: Drought has been a hazard in parts of Africa throughout historic times, and in all likelihood prior to that time as well. In recent years the hazard of drought has been increasing in frequency and areal extent. A drought that occured from 1968 to 1974 in Sub-Saharan Africa directly affected millions of people, and directly or indirectly cost the lives of tens of thousands of people. The mechanism involved in the widespread problem is the manner of adjustment of the human population to climatic cycles of short duration, in the face of rapidly growing human and animal numbers. A rapid collapse of the grasslands and an expansion of the Sahara Desert southward into more humid areas has resulted from the increasing pressure on the land from largely subsistance farming and herding. Present social, economic, and political conditions indicate that the process is going to continue to accelerate, affecting ever-increasing numbers of people in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. |
