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

2. There are many ways to export products.

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

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

6. 2. import: bring things INTO your country from outside

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

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

9. 3. developing country: has very limited industry & technology and often poor

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

11. 4. developed countries: have lots of technology and are usually wealthy

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

14. 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!

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

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

17. Deforestation can make droughts more severe.

19. 7. drought: a time with very little rainfall.

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

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

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

24. 9. Sahel

25. It looks like this. . .

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

29. The Sahel has a shortage of arable land.

31. 10. arable: land good for farming

32. 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.

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

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

35. 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.

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

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

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

39. and deforestation.

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

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

42. Desertification Deforestation Healthy Land

44. 13. desertification: the process of land becoming desert

45. 14. reforestation

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

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

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

49. 15. crop rotation
GRAINS

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

51. Crop rotation fixes that, since you rotate your planting – different crops in different fields – each year. 2 3 4 1

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

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

54. Sahel
Write a paragraph to explain the Sahel. Be sure to use the following terms in your paragraph.
drought
erosion
arable
overgraze
slash-and-burn
desertification
reforestation