Africa

1
Africa
Created by Librarians Strom/Lazar 2009
2
Farming Success
HOME
3
Farming Success
Global Issues in Context

• Small Farms around Kano, Nigeria, grow enough to
  feed an increasingly dense population. Farmers
  use ox-drawn plows instead of hoes to more
  efficiently turn soil. Lacking land for grazing,
  they fatten penned livestock with weeds and crop
  stalks, collecting manure for fertilizer.
  National Geographic

HOME
4
Nigerias Oil Country
HOME
5
Nigerias Oil Country The Niger Delta holds
sub-Saharan Africas largest oil deposits.
Though exports net billions, frequent spills
pollute fisheries, a vital source of food.
--National Geographic
Global Issues in Context
Additional Resources Nigeria Commentary
emphasizes need for peace in Niger Delta Region  
2009
HOME
6
Atlas Mountains
HOME
7
Atlas MountainsGlobal Issues in
Context Stretching for 2,400 kilometers,
Africas longest mountain range has plentiful
springs that help people at lower elevations
survive droughts. Towns tap the springs for pure
water, and farmers divert streams for
irrigation. National Geographic
Additional Sources Atlas Mountains Britannica
HOME
8
The Worlds Largest Desert
HOME
9
Worlds Largest Desert At nine million square
kilometers, the Sahara confines North Africans to
fertile strips along the Mediterranean and Nile
River. In Egypt, the government is pumping water
west from Lake Nasser to form new lakes, which
will irrigate farmland in the desert. National
Geographic
Global Issues in Context
HOME
10
Western Sudan
HOME
11
Western Sudan Herders and farmers once
cooperated across the Sahel, but drought and
rising populations now fuel competition for land.
Sudans government has deliberately exploited
such tensions to incite mass murders in Darfur,
heart of a complex political crisis that has left
some 200,000 people dead and more than two
million displaced. National Geographic
Global Issues in Context
HOME
Sudanese Sahel
12
Mountains of Ethiopia
HOME
13
Mountains of Ethiopia Some 85 percent of
Ethiopians live in fertile highlands, a refuge
from malaria. But farmers have few resources,
and because the government owns all the land,
they have little incentive to care for the soil.
Yields are falling as the population rises by two
million a year. --National Geographic
Global Issues in Context
HOME
Ethiopian Highlands
14
Making Every Inch Count
HOME
15
Making Every Inch Count Rwandans get big
harvests from small plots, terracing hills to
feed Africas most densely settled mainland
nation. As families grow, grams are split into
tiny parcels. Hungry for land, people plant on
steep slopes and overcultivate, causing soil
erosion and depletion. --National Geographic
Global Issues in Context
Soil erosion
HOME
16
Great Rift Valley
HOME
17
Great Rift Valley From Ethiopia to Mozambique,
this series of faults holds three of the worlds
ten largest lakes. The fish-rich waters provide
food, as do volcanic soils laid down by ancient
eruptions.
Global Issues in Context
HOME
18
Places of Promise
HOME
19
Places of PromiseGlobal Issues in
Context Cities house two out of three South
Africans, who are move to urban areas seeking
jobs. Theres little to keep them in the
countryside, where fields are eroded and soils
depleted because colonial-era policies confined
black farmers to designated homelands.
HOME
20
Saving Madagascar
HOME
21
Saving Madagascar The worlds forth largest
island shelters thousands of endemic species.
Since 1950 more than half its trees have fallen
to loggers and plantations. Now the government
plans to triple protected area by 2008,
preserving habitat and critical watersheds.
Global Issues in Context
Additional Resources Madagascar Forest Defenders
Send S.O.S. March 30, 2009 Saving the Wildlife
of Madagascar , 2008
HOME
22
Drying Up?
HOME
23
Drying Up? Malawi farmers rely on corn, a crop
sensitive to drought, now plaguing the region.
Amid fears that global warming may further cut
rainfall, scientists are developing corn that
needs less water.
Global Issues in Context
HOME
24
Worlds Largest Swamp Forest
HOME
25
Worlds Largest Swamp Forest Branching from
rivers in the Congo Basin, this
12-million-hectare area is largely wilderness.
South along the Congo River lie sparsely
populated grasslands, rooted in ancient dunes
formed by sand blown from the Kalahari desert.
Global Issues in Context
HOME
26
Africas Green Heart
HOME
27
Africas Green HeartGlobal Issues in Context At
two million square kilometers, Congo Basin holds
the worlds second biggest rain forest still
largely intact due to selective logging. But
farms southeast of Bangui and along logging roads
north of Bumba are pushing into the trees.
HOME
28
Angola Reborn
HOME
29
Angola RebornGlobal Issues in Context Peace in
Angola in 2002 led to renewed attention to
wildlife conservation. Feared extinct, the
giant sable antelope, has been rediscovered in
northern woodlands.
HOME