Sahel drought

The famine in the Sahel in the 1970s and 1980s was the result of drought, about 50 million affected people and led to the deaths of an estimated one million people.

Causes

The drought was due to both natural as well as man-made factors. So there is in the Sahel natural climate variability, under which the annual rainfall can sometimes turn out largely. The human impacts include deforestation, overgrazing and overexploitation of agricultural land. This exacerbated the problem of desertification (desertification ).

In addition, since the twentieth century, the phenomenon of global dimming is considered as a possible contributing cause. This phenomenon is caused by air pollution in Europe and North America, leading to increased cloud formation, but at the same time in less evaporation and thus to reduced rainfall.

Effects

The famine in the Sahel had far-reaching consequences. So many people left as environmental refugees affected countries and attracted further south, precipitation wealthier countries like the Ivory Coast. In general, the rural exodus increased within the affected countries, which also led to changes in the traditional social structure.

The famine in Darfur / Sudan

The famine in the 1980s - especially in the years 1984 and 1985 - is seen by some as one of the causes of the current Darfur conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. There, drought and famine led to an intensification of the contrast between "Arab ", nomadic pastoralists and sedentary black African farmers in the competition for scarce natural resources.

Change of government

In Niger, the famine was in 1974 to the fall of the first president, Hamani Diori - was accused of corruption and inefficient handling of international assistance - through Seyni Kountché at.

In Mali, Mauritania and Chad, there was a change of government, which have been favored among others by the drought and famine and the consequent dissatisfaction of important segments of the population.