The word Sahel is Arabic for edge or shore of the desert, and
it refers to a strip of arid land which runs across Africa,
from Mauritania and Senegal in the West to Somalia in the East.
Water is precious because rainfall is both infrequent and sparse.
The region is faced with severe land degradation, caused by
increasing desertification and soil erosion - the direct result
of deforestation in recent decades.
The Sahel has few natural resources, and drought is a common
feature of life. Over the centuries people have developed survival
strategies to cope with the harsh climate and arid land, but
in recent decades many of these strategies have been abandoned
in the name of development, and people have relied on cash crops,
including peanuts, shea nuts, and sesame. During the 1970s and
1980s the people of the Sahel experienced drought and famine
on an unprecedented scale; the cash crops failed and tens of
thousands of people died.
In the Sahel particular trees are valued and conserved because of their importance as a
source of food and traditional medicine. The fruit, leaves and bark that people can obtain
from trees are often essential for survival, especially when their annual crops fail. The
shea (or karité) tree is of great importance to the people of the Sahel because the nuts
can be processed to make oil or butter, which is exported to Europe and Japan and is the
main ingredient in many cosmetic products, including soap. The butter is also used locally
for cooking, and as a medicine to heal wounds. The tamarind tree produces fruit from which
juices and soft drinks are made and sold locally or exported. But the most highly valued
tree is the baobab which is found growing in villages. The bark is used for fibre and for
medicines, the leaves as a vegetable sauce, and the fruit pulp for making porridge and for
flavouring drinks.
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Photo for Oxfam GB by Geoff Sayer |
