Jump Links: ________Physical Features-------------Climate-----------------Plants & Animals ---------------------People
Physical Features & Climate
The Sahel has a steppe climate (dry with occasional, unpredictable rains). The Sahel in Arabic means border, it is actually the area between the desert and the savanna. Since it receives little rainfall, its physical features contain only short grasses and small trees that can support grazing animals. The Sahel is very hot and dry. Each year it only receives 4-8 inches of rain a year. In good years just enough rain falls in the Sahel to grow crops. During years of drought, life in the Sahel can become very difficult.
This area is slowly becoming a desert due to sands that are blown in from the deserts, droughts, and overgrazing by herders. Most of the people living in this region are leaving to find reliable food and water.
Plants & Animals
The land in the Sahel is marginal for farming because the soil is not fertile and water is scarce most of the year. The natural vegetation of the Sahel is a mixture of grassland, acacia trees, baobab trees, and small bushes. Farther south, where rain is more plentiful, there is a larger diversity of vegetation. Giraffes, warthogs, and rodents roam the region.
Acacia Trees have small leaves and are thorny. The thorns protect it from animals wanting to graze off of the leaves. The Baobab trees have a massive trunk that stores water for the plant.
Drought is a fact of life in the Sahel. Without vegetation to anchor the dry soil desert, winds picked up the soil and carried it away. Another cause of desertification is over grazing and the clearing of trees for firewood. When this happened lands have transformed into deserts.People
The people in the Sahel are herders or farmers. Some of the herders are semi-nomadic, moving with the seasonal flooding of the Niger River. Most semi-nomadic herders have cattle known as zebu. The zebu cattle are leaner than US cattle and are typically used only for milk. The zebus are better adapted to hot and dry climates.
Farmers have adapted to the challenge of farming and herding on marginal land in many ways. They planted crops such as millet and sorghum which are grains that will do well in dry places. Another adaptation is the use of a farming system known as shifting agriculture. In this method a farmer first clears a field and then plants it with a crop for a year of two, then the farmer moves on to a new field.
Two common groups are the Fulani and the Dogon people of southern Mali. The Dogon live in houses made of stone in cliffs while the Fulani live in mud and straw huts.