Theme 2 : PHYSICAL PROCESSES & RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND ENVIRONMENTS
Case Study 9 : An area suffering from desertification: causes, effects and management.
What is Desertification?
Desertification is the spread of deserts,
making the area dry and unsuitable for
growing crops of animals
What are the causes?
Population pressure has caused deforestation
for firewood and farming, 20% in the past 20
years. Deforestation (cutting down trees) leaves
the soil exposed to wind and water erosion. The fertile topsoil gets washed or blown away leaving the
unfertile rock and dust behind.
The water cycle is disrupted as their is less evapotranspiration, so eventually there is less rainfall and
the area becomes a desert.
Human effects on Ethiopia:
Desertification leads to poverty and so means people
can’t afford education, food or proper clothing.
Type of Tress
Crops can’t grow and animals can’t graze as nothing is
growing. People are forced to over farm their land so
making it much less productive over time, masking the
situation worse.
Jatropha bushes and berries.
This bush grows well in poor soil and irregular rainfall.
It helps bind the soil together and pre- People either starve or migrate to another area, usually
vents wind and water erosion.
a town or city (rural to urban migration). In 1984 over 1
The berries are inedible but are used as million people died in Ethiopia due to the rains failing
a biofuel – they are better for the soil and over 8 million made homeless.
than soya or maize.
The Ethiopian Government then will get less money in
It acts well as a fence to keep animals
taxes so can’t afford to pay for public services and so
away from other crops so is used as a
leads to a downward cycle of poverty in the country.
fence.
Fruit trees and vegetables have been
planted in areas sheltered by the
Jatropha bushes.
Effects on Ethiopia:
Ethiopia has one of the worst erosion problems in the world, losing 2 billion tonnes of
soil per year.
This amounts to over 70% of the country being affected by desertification. Which in turn
makes the land and poverty worse.
Millions of people have suffered from poor
crops and food shortages for a long time.
Solutions to the Problem:
The UNV (United Nations Volunteers) have planted
over 8 billion trees, this has been part of the
Great Green Wall project across North Africa.
They have also brought in bee keeping and nurseries for trees to help pollination and keep a good
supply of trees for the future.
School pupils have been used to help plant the
trees as part if improving community work and social awareness.
Practical lessons have been taught to farmers to
show them the benefits of planting trees and small
stone walls — these shelter the crops, stop wind
erosion and trap water.