Sahel & North Africa Vocabulary Terms are in green. Definitions of the terms are in boxes.

1. export There are many ways to export products.

To export a product, a country needs a way to send it out of the country.

1. export: send something out of the country to sell

2. import: bring things INTO your country from outside

3. developing country But most African countries are still developing countries. The U.S. is already a developed country.

Developing countries may be VERY poor, or they may be a mix of modern and poor. Brazil Pakistan

3. develop ing country: has very limited industry & technology and often poor

4. developed country Other examples of developed countries are Japan and France. The U.S. is already a developed country. Tokyo, Japan Paris, France

4. develop ed countries: have lots of technology and are usually wealthy

5. landlocked There are only 2 landlocked countries in South America, but there are many in Europe.

5. landlocked: a country that does not border the sea Landlocked countries better get along with their neighbors if they want to export things by sea!

6. subsistence farming Subsistence farms are small. They don’t usually have extra to sell for profit. There are many subsistence farmers in developing countries.

6. Subsistence farming produces just enough food to help feed the farmer’s own family.

7. drought Deforestation can make droughts more severe.

7. drought: a time with very little rainfall.

8. erosion Deforestation leaves the soil with no trees and tree roots to protect it. This leads to serious erosion.

Deforestation and erosion leave the soil less able to absorb rainwater. So flooding is more common during heavy rain.

Erosion by the Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon. 8. erosion: the process of soil or rock being washed away

9. Sahel

It looks like this

9. Sahel: the dry grassland on the south edge of the Sahara Desert Sahara Desert Sahel

The Sahel has a shortage of arable land arable

10. arable: land good for farming

11. overgraze When animals graze too long in one area, they strip the leaves off trees and tear plants up by the roots. This permanently kills plants and trees.

11. overgraze: letting herds eat too much in one area, permanently damaging plants

12. slash-and-burn This is a traditional way of clearing land for subsistence farmers – worldwide.

In an area with low population density, this works well. They farm the land, let it grow back for many years, and eventually re-cut it.

But in modern times, high population density means they can’t wait to let the trees grow back.

They just keep using the land – over and over – until it is no longer fertile, then abandon it to erosion.

Slash-and-burn farming often leads to serious soil erosion

and deforestation.

12. slash-and-burn: cutting down trees and bushes & burning it to get ready to farm

13. desertification Overgrazing, slash-and-burn farming, and drought can all cause desertification.

Deforestation Desertification Healthy Land

13. desertification: the process of land becoming desert

14. reforestation

In Benin, these farmers plant trees to use just for firewood and fencing. That saves the natural growth trees.

What has happened between the 1975 satellite image and the one from 2005?

14. reforestation: replanting trees that have been destroyed by deforestation

15. crop rotation GRAINS

Planting the same crop in the same field every year takes the same nutrients out of the soil every year.

Crop rotation fixes that, since you rotate your planting – different crops in different fields – each year.

15. crop rotation: planting different crops in different years to keep the soil arable

Sahel & North Africa vocabulary Sahel arable overgraze slash-and-burn desertification reforestation crop rotation export import developed developing landlocked subsistence farming drought erosion