Sahel

Marginal area to the south of the Sahara, from Senegal to Somalia, which mostly has a thin natural vegetation of savannah grasses and shrubs and whose people live by herding, often nomadic, and by the cultivation of millet and ground nuts. The Sahel experiences desert-like conditions during periods of low rainfall and there are signs of progressive desertification, partly due to climatic fluctuations but also caused by the pressures of a rapidly expanding population, which has led to overgrazing and the destruction of trees and scrub for fuelwood. In recent years many famines have taken place in the area.

The average rainfall in the Sahel ranges from 100 mm/4 in to 500 mm/20 in per year, but the rainfall over the past 30 years has been significantly below average. The resulting famine and disease are further aggravated by civil wars. The areas most affected are Ethiopia and the Sudan.