HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Vegetation clearance Rapid population growth has resulted in the widespread clearance of trees and shrubs throughout the Sahel. This vegetation clearance takes place partly to provide more land for agriculture. But it is also carried out to supply the firewood that most people need to prepare evening meals and to provide warmth. There is now a huge firewood and vegetation crisis throughout the Sahel. This is particularly severe near cities such as Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Almost all trees have been cleared within a 50-kilometre radius of Ouagadougou. Large-scale vegetation clearance leaves much of the
Sahel’s surface bare and exposed to wind erosion. It also hastens the degradation of soil by depriving it of much- needed organic matter. Another problem is that, as firewood becomes scarce, many people are forced to use dried animal dung as fuel. This dung would normally fertilise the soil. Its use as fuel therefore contributes further to soil infertility.
The firewood collectors. How might activities such as this contribute to desertification?
Overpopulation More food needed Debt Overcultivation Overgrazing Vegetation clearance Soils degraded, infertile and exposed Topsoil eroded, especially by wind Desertification Migration to other areas 6 192
Human activities accelerate soil erosion and desertification in the Sahel
More fuel needed
Overgrazing, overcropping and vegetation clearance have all contributed to soil degradation and infertility throughout much of the Sahel. With almost no surface vegetation to protect them, degraded soils become dry, dusty and exposed to large-scale wind erosion. Winds remove soil in dust storms, leaving large areas desertified and barren. As desertification spreads southward throughout the Sahel, millions of people are forced to migrate further southwards in search of food and fuel. These migrations serve only to overpopulate more land, creating a growing cycle of overpopulation, desertification and migration.
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