GeoJournalAs you read this chapter, use your journal tolog information about life in Africa south ofthe Sahara today. Include interesting anddescriptive details that reflect the region’sunique characteristics.

Chapter Overview Visit the Glencoe WorldGeography Web site at tx.geography.glencoe.comand click on Chapter Overviews—Chapter 22 topreview information about the region today.

Living in AfricaSouth of the Sahara

A Geographic ViewLeap into the FutureWith seven children, [Kawab Bulyar Lago] sold his animals andsaddled himself with debt to sendhis son Paul to. . . school outsideMarsabit [Kenya]. Now awaitingthe results of the national examsthat will determine his fate,Paul hopes to attend universityand become either a doctor, acivil engineer, a teacher, oreven a tour guide. “I’d preferto be a doctor,” he tells meone morning, “but anythingwould be all right.”. . .

In the old days [Paul] would have inherited his father’sherd. Today he inherits his hopes and dreams.

—Wade Davis, “Vanishing Cultures,” National Geographic, August 1999

Whichever career he pursues, Paul Lago’s life will bedifferent from his father’s life. Like many other rural Africans, Paul’sfather herded camels and goats for a living. Today the lives of peoplethroughout Africa south of the Sahara are changing as the regionbecomes more closely involved in the global economy. In this sectionyou will learn about the region’s changing economic activities— changesthat offer new opportunities and challenges for the region’s people.

AgricultureFarming is the main economic activity in Africa south of the

Sahara. More than two-thirds of the working population is involvedin some form of agriculture. Some countries in the region still depend

Guide to ReadingConsider What You KnowThink about the resources and prod-ucts that come from Africa south ofthe Sahara and how people maketheir livings from them. If youwanted to create a mural showingwhat life in the region is like today,what images would you include?

Read to Find Out• What are the most common farm-

ing methods in Africa south of theSahara?

• How do mineral resources benefitthe peoples of the region?

• Why has industrial developmentbeen slow in Africa south of theSahara?

• How are transportation and commu-nications in the region changing?

Terms to Know• subsistence farming

• shifting farming

• sedentary farming

• commercial farming

• cash crop

• conservation farming

• infrastructure

• e-commerce

Places to Locate• Zimbabwe

• Zambia

• South Africa

• Guinea

• Nigeria

• Kampala

C h a p t e r 2 2 537

View of South African Museum,Cape Town, South Africa

Ariaal people, Kenya

Source: Britannica Book of the Year, 2000

0

Percent of Workforce

20 40 60 80 100

Angola

Central AfricanRepublic

Ethiopia

Gabon

Mozambique

Namibia

Nigeria

Sao Tome andPrincipe

Sierra Leone

GRAPHSTUDY

Agricultural Workforce

538 U n i t 7

on single-crop economies created during the colo-nial era. Others, however, produce a variety ofagricultural goods.

Farming Methods and Export CropsMost Africans south of the Sahara engage in

subsistence farming, or small-scale agriculturethat provides primarily for the needs of just a fam-ily or village. After they have met their own needs,farmers often sell any extra harvest or animals at alocal market for cash or trade for other items theyneed or want.

African farmers use various methods to workthe land. The Masai in Kenya and Tanzania andthe Fulani in Nigeria and other parts of WestAfrica are nomadic herders. In the forest areas,farmers support themselves by shifting farming, amethod in which farmers move every one to three

years to find better soil. People practicing thismethod––also known as slash-and-burn farm-ing––use basic tools, often just an ax and a hoe, toclear and cultivate land. They burn the trees andbrush they have cut and then plant seeds in theash-enriched soil. When the soil is no longer fer-tile, they move on, sometimes returning to a loca-tion after the soil has had time to renew itself. Thismethod has been used to clear land for a variety ofplantation crops, such as rubber in Liberia, cacaoin Ghana, and coffee in Burundi.

Other farmers depend on sedentary farming, oragriculture conducted at permanent settlements.Sedentary farming is most common in areas withgood soil. The Kikuyu in Kenya and the Hausa inNigeria, for instance, farm permanent plots. Manypeople of European descent who have made theirhomes in South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe alsopractice sedentary farming.

A small percentage of the population works atcommercial farming, in which farms produce cropson a large scale. These cash crops are grown to be soldfor profit instead of used by the farmer. Most com-mercial farms, such as those in Zimbabwe and SouthAfrica, are large, foreign-owned plantations. Theysupply much of the world’s palm oil, peanuts, cacao,and sisal, a vegetable fiber used for making rope.

The colonial economic systems played an impor-tant role in the growth of commercial farms inthe region. Today the same commercial cropsare the region’s main agricultural exports. Côted’Ivoire (KOHT dee•VWAHR), Nigeria, Ghana, andCameroon, for instance, depend heavily on thesale of cacao, which is used to make cocoa andchocolate. Kenya, Tanzania, and Madagascar arelarge producers of coffee. Most of today’s cashcrops leave Africa to be processed elsewhere, justas they did during the colonial period.

The continued practice of cash-crop productionhas created problems for African economies.Reliance on one or two export crops is extremelyrisky. An unfavorable growing season or a dropin prices on the world market can have a disas-trous effect on a country’s entire economy.

Zimbabwe: Conflict Over LandCash-crop production also creates problems

for farmers trying to meet their own food needs,because plantations and other large-scale farms take

1. Interpreting Graphs Which country has thegreatest percentage of its workforce employedin agriculture?

2. Applying Geography Skills Which farmingmethod employs the largest number of workersin Africa?

C h a p t e r 2 2 539

all the best land. For example, in Zimbabwe, acountry with more than 11 million people, 40 per-cent of the farmland is controlled by only 4,000commercial farmers and ranchers, descendants ofEuropeans who controlled the land in colonialtimes. Although the government has proposedland reform to distribute land more evenly, vio-lence has broken out as small-scale farmers havetried to take over large-scale farms. The resultingconflict has slowed or completely halted produc-tion on commercial farms. These developmentsthreaten Zimbabwe’s economy, which currentlydepends heavily on commercial agriculture.

Meeting ChallengesWhether involved in large-scale or small-scale

agriculture, farmers in the region face many chal-lenges. Overgrazing, overworked soils, and a lackof technology have made farming difficult inmany places. The use of heavy farm machinery,frequent tilling, and the clearing of forests for tim-ber have caused soil erosion and desertification.Most subsistence farming in the region dependslargely on human labor alone. Although men workprimarily in cash-crop production, women oftenwork at traditional subsistence farming, usingbasic tools and techniques. Food production hasfallen far short of the needs of the region’s boom-ing population.

Gradually, however, farmers are beginning toemploy new methods and tools. Farmers in Zambiahave started to practice conservation farming, aland-management technique that helps protectfarmland. By planting different crops where theywill grow best, Zambian farmers actually conserve,or save, land for farming. In addition, better fertil-izers and seeds have increased yields of maize andother crops. In Nigeria and other countries, farm-ers who depended solely on rain to water theirfields now use irrigation to increase production.

Logging and FishingAlthough forests cover almost 25 percent of Africa

south of the Sahara, human activities are destroyingthe region’s forests at an alarming rate, upsettingunique ecosystems. The demand for farmland hasled agricultural settlements to open up some of thisland, using the slash-and-burn method of shifting

farming. People in the region also cut wood fromthe rain forest and savanna woodlands to use asfuel. Logging companies also harvest and exportvaluable hardwoods, such as Rhodesian teak,ebony, African walnut, and rosewood.

Although logging creates serious consequencesfor Africa’s forests, the lumber industry has a rela-tively small output. Logging in the region accountsfor less than 10 percent of the world’s lumber sup-ply. Coastal countries with rain forests, such asGabon, Equatorial Guinea, and South Africa, doexport significant amounts of lumber and pulp.

Commercial fishing also represents only a smallportion of the region’s economic activity. Fewcountries build and support fleets of commer-cial fishing vessels. Africa also has a very narrowcontinental shelf, the shallow ocean area near a

Fresh Sardines Fishing is a major activity alongZimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, one of the world’s largesthuman-made lakes.

Human-Environment Interaction What inlandcountries in Africa south of the Sahara profit from fisheries on lakes and rivers?

540 U n i t 7

continent’s coast that usually contains abundantfish. Along the southwestern coast, commercialfishing vessels do catch large quantities of herring,sardines, and tuna for export. The richest fishinggrounds in the region lie off the region’s west coast. Countries bordering oceans—South Africa,Namibia, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal—haul in the largest catches. The economies of islandcountries in the region depend on the export of fishand fish products. In addition, the inland countriesof Malawi, Uganda, Chad, and Mali profit from fish-eries on lakes and rivers.

Mining ResourcesDifficult and risky, mining is an important eco-

nomic activity in the region. Gold mining is partic-ularly dangerous. The extremely narrow seams ofthe valuable mineral are located deep in the earth.Such depths greatly increase the risk of rock bursts,or breaks in the earth’s crust, under the stress ofexplosives and power tools, but mine workersneed the wages to help support their families.

Mineral WealthThe Witwatersrand, a gold deposit 300 miles

(483 km) long, makes South Africa the world’slargest producer of gold. The country also is aworld leader in the production of gems and indus-trial diamonds mined from beneath the grassyplateau of Gauteng Province. South African min-ers also extract large quantities of coal, platinum,chromium, vanadium, and manganese for export.

Although South Africa’s mineral wealth makesit one of the region’s richest countries, foreigninvestors or companies owned by white SouthAfricans reap the most benefits. Little moneyreaches black South African mine workers. Sincethe steady decline in gold prices that began in the1980s, however, gold has also contributed less toSouth Africa’s economy.

An Imbalance of RichesThe uneven distribution of mineral resources

causes economic imbalances in Africa south of theSahara. Most known mineral deposits lie along theAtlantic coast and south of the Equator. For exam-ple, Guinea (GIH•nee) has about one-third of theworld’s known reserves of bauxite, the main ore

used in making aluminum. Immense oil reservesmake Nigeria the region’s only member of theOrganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC). In spite of rich mineral resources, manypeople in these two countries do not benefitdirectly from local resources, and they remainpoor. Governments have badly managed theincome from mineral wealth, and foreign mineowners often send their profits abroad.

IndustrializationDespite its large reserves of bauxite, Guinea can-

not manufacture aluminum because it lacks thecheap energy, capital, and infrastructure—resourcessuch as trained workers, facilities, and equipment—to build a refinery. Guinea is not unique. Most of theregion’s countries never developed manufacturingindustries to process their natural resources. Todaymany countries in Africa south of the Sahara receiveforeign loans to industrialize, but progress has beenslow. Few countries have industrial centers for pro-cessing raw materials. As a result, most countries inthe region continue to act as suppliers of raw mate-rials for the industrialized countries of the world.

Development of ManufacturingSince the 1960s the governments of newly inde-

pendent African countries have encouraged indus-trial expansion. Demand for manufactured goodshas increased, and locally produced goods havereplaced some imported items. Today the region’sindustrial workers process food or produce textiles,paper goods, leather products, and cement. Someassemble electric motors, tractors, airplanes, andautomobiles. Yet compared to manufacturing inother developing areas, such as Latin America, theeconomic role of manufacturing is small. By thelate 1990s, only 15 percent of the region’s GDPcame from manufacturing.

Overcoming ObstaclesAfrica south of the Sahara faces many obstacles

to industrialization, including the lack of skilledworkers. Educational systems are relatively new,and training programs are limited. Hydroelectricresources are plentiful but untapped, and powershortages often occur. Political conflicts interrupteconomic planning and divert resources from

C h a p t e r 2 2 541

development projects. In addi-tion, countries must import foodto feed their growing populations.

Although African products stilldo not reach many parts of theworld, exports have been growingsince World War II. Some coun-tries in the region trade with Japanand the United States, but mostrely on trading ties establishedwith Western European countriesbefore independence. Some coun-tries are breaking old trading pat-terns to trade within the region.Various countries, for example,have formed regional tradingassociations, such as the EconomicCommunity of West African States(ECOWAS), to exchange ideasand to protect their interests.

Transportation andCommunications

Good transportation and communications sys-tems are essential to industry and trade as well asto everyday life in the region. New transportationnetworks and technology are beginning to changelifestyles, but much remains to be done.

Creating and maintaining transportation sys-tems in the region is difficult. Roads and railwaysmust cross vast distances and changing terrain.Water transportation is limited because mostrivers cannot be navigated from source to mouth,and the region has few natural harbors. In addi-tion, there are few experts and skilled managersto plan and supervise transportation systems. Inrecent years wars and lack of money have keptmany roads and rail lines from being repaired.

Roads and RailroadsSeveral countries, however, consider roads and

railroads a top priority. Nigeria plans to link allparts of its railroad system, and Uganda is sched-uling repairs on the heavily traveled Trans-AfricanHighway, which runs from Mombasa, Kenya, toLagos, Nigeria. Mauritania, Senegal, and theNorth African country of Morocco are discussingplans for a highway between Tangiers in Morocco

and Dakar in Senegal that would eventually reachLagos. This important project would link peopleand ideas in different parts of Africa.

CommunicationsIn the area of communications, the region has

long relied on radio, with state-run stations pro-viding global programming. Television reachesfewer people because the land-relay systems fortransmitting TV signals become very costly out-side urban areas. Satellite technology shouldimprove television’s reach, however. Low literacyrates limit traditional media like newspapers andmagazines, and in many countries, governmentsrestrict the number of issues that can be published.

Telephone service is also limited, especially inrural areas. Across the region, only 14 main tele-phone lines serve each 1,000 people. However,satellite and wireless technology is expected toimprove access to phone service and the Internetin Africa south of the Sahara.

Early Morning Travelers A 400-mile-long(644-km-long) railway links eastern Botswana toZimbabwe and South Africa.

Region What factors challenge the development oftransportation in the region?

542 U n i t 7

Economics

Internet CommerceHelen Mutono runs a small business sell-

ing baskets made by Ugandan women. Usinge-commerce, or selling and buying on the Internet,Helen Mutono set up a Web site at a cybercafe inthe Ugandan capital, Kampala, to sell baskets tocustomers around the world. Cybercafes provideInternet access for people who lack their own com-puters. For a fee, cybercafes allow customers to useInternet technology. The Internet broadens themarket for locally made products, allowing cus-tomers from around the world to purchase uniqueproducts. As Helen Mutono notes:

“ You can imagine trying to sell a basketthat everybody can make locally. [Theweavers] probably wouldn’t be able tosell very many baskets, but to be able tomarket [the baskets] worldwide is . . .the greatest thing that could have hap-pened for them.”quoted in “E-commerce: Uganda’s

Entrepreneurs Go Global,” BBC World Service (online)

Checking for Understanding1. Define subsistence farming, shift-

ing farming, sedentary farming,commercial farming, cash crop,conservation farming, infrastruc-ture, e-commerce.

2. Main Ideas Copy the web diagrambelow. List details about each of thefive major economic activities in theregion. Then choose one type, andwrite a paragraph about it.

Critical Thinking3. Making Generalizations What eco-

nomic features do many countriesin Africa south of the Sahara share?How have these shared featuresaffected their economies?

4. Making Predictions What rolemight the Internet play in theregion’s economic development?Explain.

5. Comparing and Contrasting Com-pare and contrast the roles agri-culture and industry each play inthe region. Consider changes inthe region’s economies beforeand after independence as partof your analysis.

Analyzing Graphs6. Human-Environment Interaction

Study the graph on page 538.What can you conclude about theimportance of agriculture in theeconomies of the countries repre-sented in the graph?

7. Obstacles to DevelopmentThink about the challengesto economic development inAfrica south of the Sahara.Write a speech in which youdefine one of the most criti-cal challenges, propose away to overcome it, andexplain why your proposalis a good idea.

Applying Geography

Africa South of the Sahara

Transportation andCommunications

Logging and Fishing

Agriculture IndustryMining

E-Commerce By selling baskets worldwide viathe Internet, Helen Mutono and others have been ableto buy needed clothes and send their children to school.

Region How does the Internet broaden the marketfor locally made products?

People and TheirEnvironment

A Geographic ViewSaving ForestlandsTraditional farmers use[d] slash-and-burn methods [in Madagascar],and a growing population . . . led to the clearing of more land. In the worst cases nearly a hun-dred tons of topsoil an acre were being lost each year. Andwhile that flow has yet to befully [stopped,] some progresshas been made. Still, . . . unlessthese farming methods change,virtually all the island’sforests will be gone within 25 years.

––Virginia Morell, “Restoring Madagascar,” National Geographic, February 1999

Africans south of the Sahara, like their neighborsaround the globe, look to the future with hope. Yet the people in thisregion face tremendous difficulties in achieving a better life. Manyenvironmental challenges threaten the region’s supply of food, itshealth care, and its plant and animal life. In this section you will learnabout these problems and the solutions proposed to deal with them.

Shadow of HungerToday millions of people in the region must focus on survival.

Hunger is one of their bitterest enemies. In the 1990s, for example,many thousands of people died of starvation in the Horn of Africa—thebulge of land that juts into the Indian Ocean and includes the countriesof Somalia, Ethiopia, and Djibouti (jih•BOO•tee). Drought andhuman activities, such as wars, contributed to the famine, or extreme

C h a p t e r 2 2 543

Guide to ReadingConsider What You KnowImagine that you are going to createa series of TV specials about Africasouth of the Sahara. What issueswould you include in the segmentabout the environment?

Read to Find Out• Why have food shortages occurred

in parts of Africa south of theSahara?

• What steps are the African coun-tries south of the Sahara taking to protect their environment?

• What is the outlook for theregion’s future development?

Terms to Know• habitat

• extinction

• poaching

• ecotourism

Places to Locate• Somalia

• Ethiopia

• Djibouti

• Sahel

• Sudan

• Eritrea

• Côte d’Ivoire

• Madagascar

Village meeting in Madagascar

544 U n i t 7

scarcity of food. Today famine threatens many partsof Africa, which must look to the international com-munity for food. Food donations often can helprelieve famine if there are no barriers to distribution.However, they cannot end hunger caused by yearsof conflicts and natural disasters.

DesertificationAlthough never as fertile as land to the south

and east, the Sahel region of West Africa once sup-ported life. The Sahel is a band of semiarid landextending across the northern part of the regionand bordering the Sahara. Not so long ago,nomadic peoples grazed livestock in the Sahel.Their animals helped fertilize the soil, and farmingwas possible. Today, however, a wide area of theSahel has become desert. As the climate hasbecome drier and as people and animals havestripped the Sahel of its vegetation, the desert hascrept farther south, spreading in the countries ofMauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan.

Droughts, which have always occurred in thesemiarid Sahel, have recently become severe thereand in other parts of Africa south of the Sahara.Beginning in the 1960s, severe droughts in theseareas helped turn farmland into wasteland. Forexample, in the early 1990s, drought in the Horn ofAfrica caused widespread famine. Since 1998drought has killed crops and livestock across EastAfrica, threatening the lives of hundreds of thou-sands of people.

In 2000 the United Nations Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO) warned that famine couldbecome a problem in central Africa because ofunpredictable weather patterns and large numbersof refugees. In West Africa good harvests haveboosted food supplies in most countries. Civil war,however, threatens to disrupt the distribution offood in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.

Conflict and HungerWar continues to be a major cause of hunger and

malnutrition in Africa south of the Sahara. Since1990, conflicts in countries such as Liberia, Sudan,Somalia, and Rwanda have halted economicgrowth, caused widespread starvation, and costthe lives of countless Africans. Huge refugee popu-lations fleeing war-torn areas have strained alreadymeager food resources. Today civil conflict in

Somalia endangers more than one million people,including relief workers. Looting and fightingseverely hamper food distribution.

In Sudan about 2 million people are on the vergeof starvation, according to UN estimates. Most ofSudan’s people depend on subsistence farming,making them vulnerable to the country’s periodicdroughts. In addition, more than a decade of civilwar between the Muslim Arab government andnon-Muslim rebels in the south has torn Sudan

INDIaN

OCEaN

Atlantic

OCEaN

TROPIC OF CANCER

EQUATOR

TROPIC OF CAPRICORN

0º

20ºE0º20ºW

10ºN

10ºS

20ºS

30ºS

20ºN

30ºN

40ºE

Lambert AzimuthalEqual-Area projection

1,000

1,0000

0

mi.

km

MAPSTUDY

Hunger in Africa

Find NGS online map resources @ www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

High(more than 3,000)Adequate(2,500-2,999)Low(2,000-2,499)

Very Low(less than 1,999)No Data

Calories available per person per day

1. Interpreting Maps Which countries in Africasouth of the Sahara are most seriously affectedby food shortages?

2. Applying Geography Skills How does conflictaffect food production and supply?

C h a p t e r 2 2 545

apart and created the world’s largest refugee pop-ulation. Although international aid workers havetried to meet the enormous food needs of therefugees, warring factions continue to raise obsta-cles. In 2000, for example, rebel groups began toimpose taxes on relief work, forcing many aidagencies to leave the country.

If the problem of hunger is to be solved, peacewithin the region is critical. Some countries andgroups are moving toward peace. Ethiopia andEritrea, for instance, finally signed a peace agree-ment in 2000 after two years of conflict. Tensionsbetween the two countries remain high, and main-taining peace will be a great challenge. However,the Eritreans and Ethiopians have been working toundo the damage caused by drought and civil war.

History

Farming in PeaceAfter Eritrea gained its independence from

Ethiopia in 1993, farmers in both countries worked toimprove the land. Farmers in the northern Ethiopianprovince of Tigray terraced more than 250,000 acres(about 101,172 ha) of land and planted 42 millionyoung trees to hold soil in place. They also built

earthen dams to store preciousrainwater. Grain crops thrivedin their fields. In Eritrea, cropswere so abundant that the gov-ernment was able to reduce itsrequest for relief from othercountries by 50 percent.

When Ethiopia and Eritreawent to war over their sharedborder, however, many peoplelost their homes or lives. Thenone of the worst droughtsin years struck the region.Although drought continues,a shaky peace is allowingfarmers to restore the land,bringing hope to the area’speople.

Medical teams and reliefworkers with humanitarian organizations likeDoctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Fron-tières) and the International Red Cross havehelped. Feeding centers, for example, have nursedmany malnourished children and adults back tohealth in war-torn countries.

Land UsePeople in the region are also struggling with

problems of land use. At the start of the 2000s,tropical rain forests in the region were disappear-ing at a rate of more than 12 million acres (4.8 mil-lion ha) per year. The environmental impact ofhunting and tourism has also raised difficult ques-tions about the region’s land use.

Destruction of the Rain ForestIn 1990 rain forests covered almost 1.5 billion

acres (607 million ha) in this region. By 2000 126 million acres (51 million ha) of that forest had disappeared. Côte d’Ivoire has lost more than

International Aid A Red Cross worker helps aHutu mother in Rwanda find her lost children.

Region What factors lead to food shortages in Africasouth of the Sahara?

Student Web Activity Visit the Glencoe World GeographyWeb site at tx.geography.glencoe.com and click on Student WebActivities—Chapter 22 for an activity about life today inAfrica south of the Sahara.

90 percent of its rain forest, and Madagascar, atone time a heavily wooded island, has also seenmore than 90 percent of its rain forest disappear.On the continent as a whole, about half of the orig-inal rain forests are gone. Nearly 15,000 squaremiles (38,850 sq. km), an area almost the size ofSwitzerland, is being cleared every year.

Such statistics have alerted people in the regionto the severity of the problem. Today variouscountries have created forest preserves to helpsave the rain forests. Many logging companies arealso getting involved, using scientific tree farmingand replanting projects to protect and renew forests.

Endangered AnimalsAs the rain forests disappear, many plant and ani-

mal species are put at risk. Deforestation destroysanimal habitats, or living areas. Today hundreds ofanimal species in Madagascar that exist nowhereelse are in danger of extinction, or disappearancefrom the earth.

the arts of AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA

Shona SculptureSince the 1950s, artists of the Shonaethnic group in Zimbabwe havecarved attractive stone figures thatare highly valued throughout theworld. For the most part self-taught,

Shona sculptors use sim-ple hand tools. They

rarely begin carv-ing with a specific

subject in mind; instead,the artists allow the qualities

of the stone to determine theform they will create. Many

artists believe that thespirit in the stone speaksto them, and they mustwork to set the spiritfree. An example ofShona work is this stylized sculpture of an African bird.

The threat to wildlife exists elsewhere too. As theregion’s population grows, farmers have moved intosome forested areas to find land for planting andgrazing. Some grassy savannas, home to huge herdsof animals such as elephants, giraffes, antelopes, andlions, are being plowed for farming. As a result,many species have greatly decreased in number.

Hunting also threatens the region’s wildlife. Dur-ing the colonial period, European hunters reducedanimal populations significantly. For instance, dur-ing the 1900s the numbers of Zambian black lechwe,a kind of antelope, dwindled from 1 million to fewerthan 8,000. In recent years hunters have continued topursue African game for sport and profit. Two mil-lion elephants roamed the region in the early 1970s.Today fewer than 600,000 remain, largely because ofpoaching, or illegal hunting. Ivory from elephanttusks brings high prices despite international banson its trade. Other animals at risk include the CapeMountain zebra and the mountain gorilla.

Economics

Conservation and TourismTo save endangered species, some countries have

created huge game preserves. These preserves—which include Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park,Kenya’s Masai Mara, and Rwanda’s Parc Nationaldes Volcans—have helped some animals makea comeback. The parks also attract millions oftourists each year. Ecotourism, or tourism based onconcern for the environment, has become a bigbusiness in parts of the region, bringing millions ofdollars into African economies. Despite the profitsearned from such preserves, many people in theregion, like V.N. Mthembu, object to them:

“ My family lived in Ndumu [Game Reserve] until around 1960. They weremoved outside when the park brought inrhinos. There is not enough land for every-one outside now and not enough water, espe-cially in droughts. But the park has plenty ofwater and game. Why can’t we come backinside to build homes and live?”quoted by Douglas H. Chadwick,

“A Place for Parks in the NewSouth Africa,” National Geographic,July 1996

546 U n i t 7

C h a p t e r 2 2 547

Checking for Understanding1. Define habitat, extinction, poach-

ing, ecotourism.

2. Main Ideas Use a diagram like theone below for each challenge fac-ing the people of Africa south ofthe Sahara. Then write a para-graph about one of the chal-lenges, and write a proposal formeeting the challenge.

Critical Thinking3. Decision Making List actions that

governments in Africa south ofthe Sahara take to help eliminatehunger. Then arrange the itemsby order of importance andexplain your reasoning.

4. Finding and Summarizing theMain Idea What is the centralissue in the debate over the creation of game preserves?

5. Problem Solving How would youencourage logging companies and governments to help preventdeforestation? Consider the advan-tages and disadvantages.

Analyzing Maps6. Region Study the map of hunger

in Africa on page 544. Whatcountries in Africa south of theSahara generally have the leastproblem with hunger?

7. Global Issues Think aboutthe challenges Africa southof the Sahara faces today.Choose one problem in theregion that might have animpact on the rest of theworld. Make a chart or dia-gram that explains why theproblem is a global issue.

Applying Geography

Causes

Causes

Causes

Effects

Effects

Effects

Challenges

Protecting Wildlife A conservationist mea-sures the growth of a young cheetah in Namibia.

Human-Environment Interaction How haveAfrican countries addressed the problem of endan-gered species?

Governments have tried to respond to such con-cerns by giving rural peoples an economic stake inthe preserves. Some train to work in the preservesas trail guides or become involved in developmentplanning.

Toward the FutureIn Africa south of the Sahara, people are work-

ing to overcome some of the region’s seriouschallenges, many of them inherited from the colo-nial period. The region has already taken impor-tant steps, however, toward preserving theenvironment and its precious natural resources.Efforts to encourage private enterprise have alsohad positive results. New ranching laws, forexample, have allowed people to engage in croco-dile farming, a highly profitable business that hasalso brought this species back from near extinc-tion. Rhinoceroses and elephants are also begin-ning to thrive again as their habitats are protectedand poaching is discouraged by stricter laws.

Increasingly, the protection of rain forests is a pri-ority in the region. In 1999 leaders from six centralAfrican countries signed an agreement to preservethe forests. The effects of this and similar effortshave yet to be seen, but they are a strong signalthat Africans today are moving toward a morepositive future.

Viewpoint

African elephants—the biggestand strongest of all living landanimals—once roamed in greatnumbers across the continent.During the last century, however,elephants were slaughtered bythe tens of thousands for meat,for sport, and especially for theirivory tusks. In 1989 African elephants were placed on theendangered species list. Trade in elephant ivory was bannedworldwide. Recently, however,three southern African nationswere given approval to sell theirstockpiles of ivory. Critics worrythat these legalized sales willrenew the demand for ivory andincrease the killing of elephantsfor their tusks.

CASE STUDY on the Environment

NAMIBIABOTSWANA

ZIMBABWE

SOUTHAFRICA

LESOTHO

SWAZILAND MO

ZAM

BI

QUEOkavango

Delta

Southern Africa’s Dilemma:Southern Africa’s Dilemma:

Renewthe IvoryTrade?

Renewthe IvoryTrade?

548 U n i t 7

Standing more than10feet (3 m) tall and weigh-ing nearly 10,000 pounds(4,500 kg), an African ele-

phant (left) wades into thewaters of the Okavango Delta inBotswana. Both male and femaleAfrican elephants grow tusks—the world’s main source ofivory. A lustrous, creamy-whitematerial, ivory was once carvedinto everything from figurinesand jewelry to billiard balls andpiano keys.

Biologists estimate that in1930, Africa was home to 5 to10 million elephants.When theprice of ivory soared in the1970s, elephants became veryvaluable. Gun-carrying ivorypoachers began illegally killingelephants for their tusks. By1979 the elephant populationhad dropped to 1.3 million. Asmany as 80,000 elephants a yearwere shot for their ivory. By thelate 1980s, only about 600,000elephants were left in Africa.

In 1989 the nations thatmake up CITES—the Con-vention on International Tradein Endangered Species—placed

the African elephant on the endangeredspecies list.Thesale of ivory wasbanned world-wide. During the1990s, the ban was successful inprotecting elephants.Demand for ivory dwindled,prices fell, and poachingdeclined. Many elephant popu-lations began to increase, partic-ularly in southern Africa.

In fact, elephants grew soplentiful in Botswana, Namibia,and Zimbabwe that in 1997,CITES changed the elephant’sstatus in these countries fromendangered to threatened.This change allowed the threenations to sell governmentstockpiles of ivory to Japan, aslong as each country adoptedstrict anti-poaching measures.The sales went forward in 1999,but not without controversy.

Supporters of the sale of ivorystress that only governmentstockpiles are being sold andthat no elephants will be killedfor ivory. Supporters argue thatmoney from the sales can bespent on elephant conservation

and on national parks. Further,a strict monitoring programwill track poaching. If poachingincreases, ivory sales will end.

Opponents of the ivory salesfear that even a partial lifting of the ban will lead to morepoaching of elephants. Oppo-nents argue that there are bet-ter ways to raise money, suchas increasing park entrancefees. Moreover, opponentsclaim that programs to monitorand to report increased poach-ing of elephant populationscould take years—too long tosave the elephants.

Watch out for elephants!Officials in southernAfrica want to use moneyfrom ivory sales to pro-tect elephants.

Tons of tusks (below) are beingsold to Japan. Will their sale leadcarvers (right) and collectors torenew their interest in ivory? ▼

What’s Your Point of View?Do you agree with the decisionto allow limited ivory trade insouthern Africa? Will resump-tion of trade give the greenlight to poachers?

▼

Learning the SkillIn a table, similar kinds of

information are organized intocolumns and rows. Labels acrossthe top and left-hand side giveinformation about the figuresin the table. Identifying pat-terns and relationships amongthe figures can reveal a greatdeal about a topic. In this table,several kinds of statistical datafor different countries are com-pared. The left row of labelsshows what specific informationis included in the comparison,such as population density orinfant mortality rate. The toprow identifies the countriesbeing compared.

To read tables and interpretstatistics, follow these steps:

• Read headings and labels todetermine the kinds of infor-mation included in the table.

• Look up any unfamiliar termsin the table.

• Identify similarities, differ-ences, and other relationshipsamong the data.

• Use the data to draw conclu-sions.

Practicing the SkillStudy the table, and answer

the following questions.1. What countries are being

compared in the table?2. How do the countries rank

according to total

population? According topopulation density?

3. Which country has the high-est GDP per capita?

4. Which country has the lowestannual population growth?

5. What is the relationshipbetween infant mortality rateand life expectancy? Explain.

6. What is the relationshipbetween infant mortalityrate and GDP per capita? Explain.

7. What is the relationshipbetween urbanization and the number of automobiles?

Reading Tables and Interpreting StatisticsReading lists of facts and figures can be confusing. For this

reason, statistics are often organized in tables, which displaynumerical information in rows and columns.

550 U n i t 7

Population Information for Selected African Countries

Total population

Annual population growth

Percent urban

GDP (US dollars)

GDP per capita

Life expectancy

Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 births)

Population per physician

Literacy rate

Number of automobiles

Population density

43,600,000

1.2%

54%

$290.6 billion

$6,800

53 years

57

1,529

82%

4,350,000

92/sq. mi.

Sources: 2001 World Population Data Sheet; World Almanac, 2001

SenegalChadSouth

Africa

8,700,000

3.3%

21%

$7.5 billion

$1,000

50 years

103

27,765

48%

9,630

18/sq. mi.

9,700,000

2.8%

43%

$15.6 billion

$1,600

52 years

59

14,825

33%

110,000

127/sq. mi.

The Glencoe Skillbuilder Interactive Workbook,

Level 2 provides instruction andpractice in key social studies skills.

Choose three countries in Africasouth of the Sahara. Using analmanac, identify three statisticsabout the countries. Then use thesestatistics to make a table thatallows you to compare and con-trast the countries. Discuss with apartner the relationships amongdata that your table reveals.

C h a p t e r 2 2 551

Organizing Your NotesUse an outline like the onebelow to organize the notes youtook as you read about living inAfrica south of the Sahara.

Terms to Know• habitat• extinction• poaching• ecotourism

Terms to Know• subsistence

farming• shifting farming• sedentary farming• commercial

farming• cash crop• conservation

farming• infrastructure• e-commerce

SECTION 1Living in Africa South of the Sahara (pp. 537–542)

SECTION 2 People and Their Environment (pp. 543–547)

I. AgricultureA. Farming Methods and Export Crops

1.2.

Living in Africa South of the Sahara

Problem•••

Causes•••

Effects•••

People and Their Environment

SUMMARY & STUDY GUIDE

Organizing Your NotesUse a diagram like the onebelow to organize your notesabout each of the issuesdescribed in this section.

Children in a refugee camp,Democratic Republic of the Congo

Key Points• Most people in Africa south of the Sahara

engage in subsistence farming, and most coun-tries in the region depend on the export of one or two cash crops.

• Mineral resources are not evenly distributedacross Africa south of the Sahara, causing eco-nomic imbalances among the region’s countries.

• Africa south of the Sahara has taken actions to break its dependence on old trading pat-terns, and manufacturing is gaining strength in the economies of some countries in theregion.

• New transportation networks and new forms of communication are changing the lives ofAfricans south of the Sahara.

Key Points• Desertification, drought, and conflict have con-

tributed to hunger in Africa south of the Sahara.

• Deforestation, hunting, tourism, and meetingthe basic needs of people are all issues in thedebate over land use in the region.

• Africans south of the Sahara areworking towardpolitical stabilityand economicindependence inthe twenty-firstcentury.

Critical Thinking1. Categorizing Information What are the

key elements shared by the region’s econ-omies? How important is each one?

2. Making Inferences How does conflictaffect the region’s overall quality of life?

3. Predicting Consequences Create a webdiagram that lists the region’s main chal-lenges. Then list consequences for each one ifno action is taken.

Reviewing Key TermsWrite the key term that best matches eachdescription. Refer to the Terms to Know in theSummary & Study Guide on page 551.

1. agriculture that provides for the needs ofonly a family or village

2. tourism based on concern for the environment

3. a method in which farmers move every one tothree years to find better soil

4. crops grown for sale, not for use by the farmer

5. resources such as facilities and equipment

6. illegal hunting of animals

7. areas with conditions suitable forcertain animals or plants

8. agriculture conducted at perma-nent settlements

9. the disappearance of a speciesfrom the earth

10. doing business on the Internet

11. a land-management techniquethat helps protect farmland

Reviewing FactsSECTION 1

1. Why do Africans south of theSahara share unequally in min-eral wealth?

2. Why has Africa south of theSahara been slow to industrialize?

3. Why have many people in theregion relied primarily on radiofor news and information?

SECTION 24. What factors have contributed to

desertification in the Sahel?

5. What is the relationship betweendeforestation and endangeredanimals?

6. How does ecotourism affect theregion’s wildlife?

Locating PlacesAfrica South of the Sahara:Physical-Political Geography

Match the letters on the map with the places and physical features of Africasouth of the Sahara. Write your answers on a sheet of paper.

1. Mauritania2. Nigeria3. Madagascar4. Eritrea

5. Côte d’Ivoire6. Sudan7. Zambia8. Nairobi

9. Dar es Salaam10. Somalia11. Congo Basin12. Orange River

TROPIC OF CANCER

EQUATOR

TROPIC OF CAPRICORN

0º

10ºN

20ºN

30 N

10ºS

20ºS

30ºS

A

G

H

I

J

E

F

B

K

L

D

C

N

Lambert AzimuthalEqual-Area projection

800

8000

0

mi.

km

552 U n i t 7

Regional Challenges

ASSESSMENT & ACTIVITIES

C h a p t e r 2 2 553

Before you read the answer choices,study the relationship between thedeath rate and the life expectancy of

the African countries. Once you have drawn a conclu-sion about the relationship, read through the answerchoices. Choose the one that most accurately supportsthe data in the chart.

Self-Check Quiz Visit the Glencoe WorldGeography Web site at tx.geography.glencoe.comand click on Self-Check Quizzes—Chapter 22 toprepare for the Chapter Test.

Using the Regional AtlasRefer to the Regional Atlas on pages 486–489.

1. Human-Environment Interaction Describethe relationship between nomadic herdingand the location of deserts.

2. Region Which two resources are concen-trated in western and southern Africa?

Thinking Like a GeographerAs a geographer, would you favor setting asidemore or less land for game preserves in Africa?Consider both the human and environmental con-cerns associated with the game preserves. Whatarguments would you present in support of yourposition?

Problem-Solving ActivityProblem-Solution Proposal The coastal zonesof Africa south of the Sahara have great poten-tial as sources of food, energy, and minerals.However, rapid, uncontrolled development ofresources has led to environmental damage.Research to find out the specific causes of thisdamage and the ways in which it threatens thefuture of the region’s ocean resources. Then writea proposal suggesting possible steps to preventfuture harm to this environment.

GeoJournalPublic Service Announcement Use the infor-mation you logged in your GeoJournal to write apublic service announcement explaining one ofthe efforts to address an environmental challengein Africa south of the Sahara.

Technology ActivityDeveloping Multimedia Presenta-

tions Identify and research an endangeredAfrican animal. Collect information about theanimal’s habitat. Use mapping software, photo-graphs, and other visual aids you download fromWeb sites to create a multimedia presentation.Show how the animal’s location and habitat havebeen influenced by humans.

Use the table below to choose the best answerfor the following multiple-choice question. Ifyou have trouble answering the question, usethe process of elimination to narrow yourchoices.

1. What is the relationship between thechange in the death rate (number ofdeaths per 1,000 people) and the changein life expectancy in the countries listed in the table?

A An increase in the death rate causes adecrease in life expectancy.

B There is not a consistent relationshipbetween changes in the death rate andchanges in life expectancy.

C In countries where the life expectancydecreased, the death rate increased.

D Both the death rate and life expectancyare decreasing in these countries.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Sources: World Almanac, 1997; World Almanac, 2001

Population Change in Selected African CountriesDeaths per Life

1,000 people Expectancy

1996 2000 1996 2000

Botswana 17 22 46 40Namibia 8 19 65 41South Africa 10 15 60 54Uganda 21 18 41 44Zimbabwe 18 22 42 39