1. Unit 6: South of the Sahara

3. Managing Resources Precipitation has decreased, while the number of people depending on it has increased. Over the past several decades, there have been chaotic shifts in rainfall, causing problems for crops. Desertification, or the destruction of land in arid and semiarid areas, is the result of variations in climate and causes food insecurity, poverty, and further water shortages.

4. Human Impact Overgrazing, deforestation, and overpopulation are all causes of desertification in the subregion. Climate change has created water management problems. In an effort to combat water problems, people have tried different methods of irrigation and providing access to fresh water, with varying results. Poorly conceived water projects can cause problems, including attracting disease-carrying insects, increasing overgrazing, and contributing to desertification.

5. Addressing the Issues Remediation may be possible with better water management and land use practices. Many nongovernmental agencies are working to stave off desertification by enhancing knowledge and understanding of the challenges. Local people are experimenting and discovering ways to reclaim dry land. By monitoring and studying areas affected by desertification, scientists hope to find solutions to the problem.

7. Managing Resources The failure to face environmental challenges contributes to the continuing cycle of poverty and hunger. Conflict, governmental corruption, and mismanagement of resources compound the issues confronting the subregion. Governments and organizations in the subregion have slowly improved health care, literacy, and standards of living

8. Human Impact The lack of infrastructure, such as electricity, encourages deforestation, as people turn to wood for cooking and heating. The destruction of animal habitats, or living areas, is exacerbated by deforestation and poaching, or illegal hunting, causing many species to become endangered. As the population increases in fertile areas around waterways, pollution threatens the area’s waters and marine life.

9. Addressing the Issues Governments are taking steps to protect the environment, such as establishing national parks. The naming of UNESCO world heritage sites has raised awareness of conservation efforts in the subregion. Wildlife reserves have helped revive animal populations and have encouraged ecotourism, bringing millions of dollars into the subregion’s economies.

11. Managing Resources Poverty is the primary factor behind the failure to manage national resources, as daily struggle is the first priority. Sanitation problems lead to illness, premature death, and loss of productivity. Corruption is an obstacle to positive change and economic efficiency, and is the second biggest issue in the subregion. There is grave concern that continued mismanagement of resources will lead to more widespread food insecurity and conflict.

12. Human Impact The rate of population increase puts pressure on the carrying capacity of the land, which is the maximum population that an environment can sustain. The breakdown of traditional farming has led to severe erosion, the wearing away of the soil, and desertification. Political corruption and the deterioration of land and water contribute to widespread poverty and famine, which contribute to political instability and war.

13. Addressing the Issues Many countries are working to combat the problems in this subregion. Some farmers have revived better land management practices to reverse desertification. The Global Water Initiative is improving access to clean water and sanitation, with some areas reporting an increase of 50 to 80 percent. The United Nations (UN) is also promoting the coordinated management of resources to maximize their social and economic benefits.

15. Managing Resources Management of natural resources is sometimes a low priority, or something that needs attention among competing alternatives, when daily survival is the primary concern. Extensive conflict hampers, or impedes, normal economic activity, along with widespread government corruption. Poverty also takes its toll on the subregion’s people, as some in Equatorial Africa are the poorest in the world.

16. Human Impact The pollution of the air and water, along with soil erosion and deforestation, are all negative human influences on the area’s vast natural resources. The ivory trade, demand for ivory from elephant tusks, has greatly depleted the number of elephants that once roamed the continent. Poaching and illegal hunting of endangered species has threatened the populations of monkeys, antelopes, gorillas, bonobos, and elephants.

17. Addressing the Issues Protection of tropical rain forests has become a priority, with the foremost efforts being scientific tree farming and replanting projects. Many nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, and charitable groups are working to help make biofuel cook stoves cleaner and more efficient. Governments have deployed troops to combat illegal poaching and to decrease the trade in bushmeat, but economic struggles continue to make this task difficult.

19. Managing Resources Poverty is the underlying reason behind the failure to manage resources as people struggle to survive. Commercial logging, poaching, and lack of access to clean water, are all serious issues. Shortages push groups already at odds with each other into deeper, and sometimes more violent, conflicts. Resource shortages can cause problems that lead to larger wars across political boundaries.

20. Human Impact Farmers’ policy of shifting cultivation, or planting a field for several years then abandoning it to clear a new field, begins to fail when the population begins to increase dramatically. Richer, more powerful groups often hoard natural resources, leaving less available to the poor. Most cities have not been able to handle the rapid population growth, leading to widespread disease as clean water and sanitation are often unavailable.

21. Addressing the Issues Many countries are working to combat the problems of the region. South Africa is one of only a few countries that built environmental rights into its constitution, showing its commitment to the cause. Governments have also adopted action plans and laws designed to increase sustainable resources and reduce pollution. Nongovernmental organizations are working directly with people to bypass corrupt officials.