The Sahel is a fragile environment where rainfall is sparse and unreliable. Millet and
sorghum crops can grow well in the dry conditions, succeeding in a good year but failing
when the rains are poor. Nomadic herders make good use of these difficult conditions,
moving their sheep, goats, cows and camels to areas which have received the most rain. Unfortunately
for the people of Burkina Faso, these dry conditions have been creeping southwards,
threatening to turn farmland to desert. Farmers everywhere say that the rainfall is less
than it was when they were children, and the rainy season much shorter. Rainfall records
support these claims.
The reasons for these worsening conditions are not clear. Some scientists believe that
the world's climate has been changing, leading to an expansion of the Sahara desert and the Sahel. But it also seems certain that deforestation has played an
important part, as farmers have cleared land for their crops and removed trees for
fuelwood. Without trees and plants to protect it, the soil is carried away in the dry
season by hot easterly winds, and washed into the rivers during the rains. The bare land
reflects the sun's heat, reducing clouds and further reducing the chance of rain.
To combat this serious environmental damage, since 1981 the government has been
encouraging farmers to return to their traditional methods, and to introduce innovative
techniques, including diguettes - stone lines laid along the contours of fields, which catch rain
water and reduce soil erosion. |
