Sahel << sah HEHL >> is a dry grassland in Africa. The Sahel lies south of the Sahara and extends through large parts of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan. Some geographers also consider certain desertlike regions in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan to be part of the Sahel. A number of serious droughts (dry periods) have struck the Sahel. The area has been especially dry since 1968. Millions of people in the Sahel have died as a result of crop failures caused by the droughts.
Farmers in the Sahel face many problems. During some seasons, the area either receives no rain, or the rains come too late for the growing season. Occasionally, the Sahel receives heavy rainfalls that wash away the farmers’ seeds. Other problems include livestock epidemics, attacks by locusts that destroy crops, and erosion, the wearing away of soil by wind and rain. Much of this erosion results from the overgrazing of the grassland. Agricultural experts have developed methods to improve farming in drought-stricken areas such as the Sahel. But more economic assistance and cooperation by the area’s governments are needed before these methods can be widely applied.
