HUMAN GEOGRAPHY


Overgrazing Cattle rearing has always been a major feature of rural life in the Sahel, where ownership of cattle or goats often determines wealth and status. As the human population has increased, so has the number of cattle and goats. Increasing animal numbers degrade (damage) the soil in the following ways: l Animals overgraze the land by grazing it beyond its ability to renew itself. They remove grass cover and even crop young trees and shrubs. This leaves the soil bare and vulnerable to wind erosion.


l Large herds of cattle trample and compact the soil with their hooves. This makes the soil less porous and results in more surface run-off and erosion in times of infrequent but heavy rainfall.


l Numerous wells have been dug to provide watering places for animals. Too many cattle tend to congregate around these wells, causing the land there to become very overgrazed and trampled. The overuse of wells has also used up groundwater that has taken hundreds of years to build up. The water table then falls and many wells dry up.


l In former times, almost all cattle farmers in the Sahel moved seasonally with their cattle in search of fresh pastures. This system of nomadic herding allowed soils to rest fallow (unused) for long periods and this allowed soils to renew their fertility. Increasing cattle numbers have now forced many farmers to abandon nomadic herding and instead to keep cattle permanently in fenced-off land. Such land is constantly in use and is often severely overgrazed and degraded.


190


A severely overgrazed area near a well in Agadez, Niger. Suggest why areas near wells might become overgrazed.


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