Living with Drought

Synopsis

During the 1970s and 1980s the recurrence of famine in rural areas of Africa resulted in many hundreds of thousands of deaths, notably in the Sahel, in Ethiopia and in Mozambique. Well publicised famine relief efforts made a profound impression on world perceptions of African agriculture. In some interpretations, repeated drought years in semi-arid areas of Africa heralded the onset of global climate change. In others, increasing population in Africa had increased pressure on cultivated land to the point where the land was becoming degraded by over-intensive use. In either case, environmental issues loomed large in the ‘African Crisis’. The apocalyptic tone of much of the comment on the subject is captured by the term ‘desertification’, first coined to describe land degradation in the Sahel.
This programme attempts to redress the balance by examining some potential solutions to the environmental crisis in Africa. This is done by talking to people from various rural communities, thus building up a picture not only of the area’s history, but also of some of the solutions already tried. It was filmed in two locations: the Tahoua province of Niger in the Sahel, and in the the Machakos district of Kenya.

Series

Environment, Course U206

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 49 min.

Year of production

1991

Availability

Off-air recording licence

Subjects

Environmental science

Keywords

Africa; deserts; developing countries; drought; environment; famine; Kenya; Niger; Sahel

Credits

Producer

Eleanor Morris

Contributor

Jerusha Castley

Production Company

Name

BBC Open University Productions

Distributor

Name

Open University Worldwide

Web

http://www.ouw.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 1908 274066

Address

Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

Notes

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