Weathering the drought in Africa

This is a true story about an agricultural development project that was initiated in response to the droughts which occurred in the Sahelian zone of Africa beginning in 1968. These droughts persisted through the 1990s causing catastrophic problems for the people, their livestock and the environment. This project developed and implemented a partial agronomic solution to the droughts enabling many poor hungry people to have more food.

Natural Disasters and Adaptation to Climate Change, 2013

In the 1970s and 1980s, a fierce debate took place concerning the vulnerability and adaptive practices of farmers and herders in the West African Sahel, and the utility of concepts including ‘adaptation’ to drought. The region has had the most primary research conducted on drought vulnerability and response, and it is referred to as an archetype, notably in work on human security and famine. Some (eg Michael Watt’s ‘Silent Violence’ 1983) painted a gloomy picture of rural life, with farmers beset by brutal commodity markets and extractive governance stretching back over 100 years. Food shortage and famine was, for Watts, created by colonial policies and unequal access to resources. However others, for example Michael Mortimore (author of ‘Adapting to Drought’ 1989) found regardless of these threats households responded (adapted) to drought in innovative and largely successful ways: diversifying into livestock from farming, moving into labouring and small business activity, and finally considering some temporary outmigration to less affected or more affluent regions to provide remittances. Reversible adaptations occurred before less reversible ones. In this chapter we argue that adaptation is socially mediated, not always successful, and is linked into broader political and economic forces. Its utility as a concept is constrained if wedded to Darwinian uses.’Productive Bricolage’ characterizes livelihoods, with different responses pursued at the same time, and for different lengths of time. Development projects can assist community resilience and individual response to food crises, but in unexpected ways. Our findings from fieldwork in Niger, Burkina and Nigeria are discussed and linked to the new preoccupation of the millennium; ‘climate adaptation’. New research on adaptation in semi arid regions urgently needs to learn from this vast reservoir of contextual knowledge in the African drylands, some of it dating back over 40 years. Sahel, drought, adaptation to climate change, productive bricolage

Atmosphere, 2022

Droughts have been identified as an environmental hazard by environmentalists, ecologists, hydrologists, meteorologists, geologists, and agricultural experts. Droughts are characterised by a decrease in precipitation over a lengthy period, such as a season or a year, and can occur in virtually all climatic zones, including both high and low rainfall locations. This study reviewed drought-related impacts on the environment and other components particularly, in South Africa. Several attempts have been made using innovative technology such as earth observation and climate information as recorded in studies. Findings show that the country is naturally water deficient, which adds to the climate fluctuation with the average annual rainfall in South Africa being far below the global average of 860 mm per year. Drought in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, for example, has resulted in employment losses in the province’s agriculture sector. According to the third quarterly labor force sur...

2011

The Greater Horn of Africa, in the continent’s east, depends on rain-fed agriculture and is highly vulnerable to drought. Even with normal rainfall, the region does not produce enough food to meet its needs. Devastating droughts occurred in 1973–74, 1984–85, 1987, 1992–94, 1999–2000, and 2005–06. The failure of the rains in 2009 led to massive food shortages in East Africa and destroyed 40% of Kenya’s maize harvest. Failure of the rains in late 2010 and in 2011 has precipitated a humanitarian crisis once again.

1998

Global Scientific Journals, 2024

Overview: Climate change refers to significant, long-term changes in the patterns of temperature, precipitation, wind, and other elements of the Earth's climate system. It involves shifts in the average conditions and variability over decades to millions of years. The study was conducted in Luwingu district of Northern Province in Zambia. Body of Knowledge: Climate change is significantly impacting Africa, leading to an increase in drought frequency across the continent. This environmental shift is attributed to rising global temperatures, which alter precipitation patterns and reduce the availability of water resources. The heightened drought conditions exacerbate food and water insecurity, affecting agriculture, livelihoods, and overall economic stability in many African nations. Vulnerable communities, particularly those reliant on subsistence farming, are disproportionately affected, facing heightened risks of malnutrition and poverty. Methods: The study employed a mixed paradigm and descriptive survey design that sampled Government Officials, Farmers and Agricultural Workers. Data was obtained from the respondents by means of interviews, questionnaires and project observation schedules. The sample consisted of sixty respondents. Frequency, percentages, tables, graphs and pie-charts were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data obtained. Data was then analyzed manually in some cases with, a combination of software; MS Access and MS Excel.

In West Africa, climate variations and droughts have always affected livelihoods but have also triggered adaptation strategies. A better understanding of the impacts of drought and the responses of West African populations is indispensable for researchers and decision makers in the current and future context of multiple socioeconomic and environmental changes, including climate change. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on drought in West Africa. In this paper, we highlight controversial issues and identify knowledge gaps. Although drought has been widely considered as a major problem in West Africa, there is a need to frame it within a set of multiple threats faced by local populations and to understand how droughts act as a trigger in economic, societal, and environmental contexts. The literature on responses to drought focuses on agricultural and individual responses, while diversification, migration, and tree-based or livestock-based responses are less frequently addressed. More research is needed on the effectiveness and on the unexpected effects of responses of populations, states, and NGOs, as well as on the interactions between different responses. To understand the complexity of impacts and responses, the context in which they occur and how individual and collective actions interact within households or communities needs to be taken into account. Ecosystems and agriculture offer many goods and services that are suitable for adaptation and the different landscape components should be analyzed together. Such historical, contextual, and integrated analyses would better inform new policies and projects for adaptation to climate change.

Hydrological Sciences Journal/Journal des Sciences Hydrologiques

This review article discusses the climate, water resources and historical droughts of Africa, drought indices, vulnerability, impact of global warming and landuse to drought-prone regions in West, Southern, and Greater Horn of Africa, which have suffered recurrent severe droughts in the past. Recent studies detected warming and drying trends in Africa since the mid-20 th century. Based on the 4 th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, and that of the 5 th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), both northern and southern Africa are projected to experience drying such as decreasing precipitation, runoff and soil moisture in the 21 st Century and could become more vulnerable to impact of droughts. The daily maximum temperature is projected to increase up to 8 o C (RCP8.5 of CMIP5), precipitation indices such as total wet day precipitation (PRCPTOT) and heavy precipitation days (R10mm) could decrease, while warm spell duration (WSDI) and consecutive dry days (CDD) could increase. Uncertainties of the above long-term projections, teleconnections to climate anomalies such as ENSO and Madden Julian Oscillation which could also affect water resources of Africa, and capacity building in terms of physical infrastructure and non-structural solutions, are also discussed. Given traditional climate and hydrologic data observed in Africa are generally limited, satellite data should also be exploited to fill in the data gap for Africa in future.

The paper provides an overview of drought conditions in the Horn Africa and suggests measures in order to combat the impact of drought in the region. The Horn of Africa covers numerous countries including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda. Drought has severe adverse effects on sustainable development in the region. It causes agricultural production to fall, leading to food shortages and food insecurity, which in turn give rise to famine, water scarcity and loss of human life. The East Africa drought crisis is grave. It is a major concern for the continent, international community, and, the region, where a majority of a population relies on rainfall to grow food. Its management is an important element in the drive for sustainable development in the continent as whole and the region in particular. The need to address this, is intricately linked with the effort to tackle poverty and food insecurity in the region. Improved access to food is a sine qua non for sustained progress in poverty eradication. The paper suggests technology based innovation as an appropriate and sustainable strategy to tackle drought conditions in the easterly region of the African continent. The paper argues that inappropriate application of technologies are the primary reason behind drought as a long-standing issue in the region. Furthermore, it claims that responses to tackle drought conditions in the region, did not achieve the adoption of modern technologies and innovations. It concludes that an urgent action must be taken to halt the drought but any responses must also be forward-looking and seek to build long-term resilience. Securing lasting food security in the Horn requires attention to be paid to modern technology and innovation.

This paper presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the available literature and information on droughts to build a continental, regional and country level perspective on geospatial and temporal variation of droughts in Africa. The study is based on the review and analysis of droughts occurred during 1900-2013, as well as evidence available from past centuries based on studies on the lake sediment analysis, tree-ring chronologies and written and oral histories and future predictions from the global climate change models. Most of the studies based on instrumental records indicate that droughts have become more frequent, intense and widespread during the last 50 years. The extreme droughts of