Desertification: Niger (AOS_2)

Question 1

location of Niger

Answer 1

• Niger, consisting of seven regions, is located in Central Sub Sahara Africa, land locked between the Equator and Tropic of Cancer
  
  • One of the poorest countries in the world
  • Much of the country is desert or hyper-arid
  • 75% of the country receives less than 300 mm of rainfall a year
• 80% of food production areas are concentrated on 10-15% of the land area, in a narrow band in the south- most crops are rain fed

Question 2

reasons for current land cover changes in Niger (social and environment)

Answer 2

social factors:
- Population growth: given 2.3 billion people live in dryland areas, then an increase in people increases pressure on these areas. Areas will in turn require more agricultural land to mitigate food insecurity
environmental factors:
- Loss of vegetation cover
○ Wood is the main source heating, cooking and construction
○ Grazing animals deplete vegetation
○ Trees considered as competition to agricultural crops
○ Exposes soils to both wind and water erosion
- Drought: prolonged it can cause desertification
- Climate change: changing rainfall patterns
- Excessive water: can rise in water tables and bring salts to the surface (salinity)

Question 3

reasons for current land cover changes in Niger (economic and political)

Answer 3

• Economic factors
  ○ Poverty: both a cause and consequence. In some areas, people have no choice but to overcrop, overgraze and reduce the time soil has to recover between crops
  ○ Overgrazing: because unsustainable when there is not enough time for plants t recover (soil is trample and compacted and erodes)
  
  • Political factors
    ○ Pressure to provide for basic humans: means that environmental needs get little attention. There are insufficient laws dealing with land and resource ownership
    ○ Restriction of nomadic farming: traditional farming method that moves grazing to match rainfall patterns and pasture. In modern times this restricted which leads to overgrazing
    ○ Conflict: conflict can create a movement of refugee into degraded areas

Question 4

impacts of desertification on Niger

Answer 4

• environment
  ○ Soil erosion: land unprotected by vegetation is exposed to water and wind erosion. This soil once dried out can move large distances (scientist have tracked down soils blown from northern Africa blown to North America and London)
  ○ Loss of biodiversity: loss of habitat and decline in biodiversity, including plants and animals
• economic activity
  ○ Economic losses: many people rely on farming in drylands for their livelihood
• social conditions
  ○ Increased food insecurity (which affects 20-30% of the population)

Question 5

spatial technology desertification

Answer 5

Satellite imagery from FMNR

A satellite image is an image of the whole or part of the earth taken using artificial satellites