Sub-Saharan Africa: Into the Fire

     In Alon Paton’s novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, the author mourns the damaged land of South Africa. He describes the dry and ruined earth, a representation of the disintegrating tribe system and dissipation of culture. While this novel is fictional, the characters’ battle for recovery of the land is not. Today, the region of Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling against the disastrous consequences of global warming and ongoing ecological issues.

     Unlike Sub-Saharan Africa, agriculture in the United States is not an issue. As a whole, this country has a systematic, efficient method of growing and transporting food, and it is a relatively stable industry. This is not the case in Sub-Saharan Africa, a struggling region of the world where repetitive droughts, changing oceans, and food shortages, leave people unsure about the security of their future.

     The topic of famine in Africa, more specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, has been a big focus for many years. In the past three decades, the Sahel region of Africa, which is located just above the equator, has been plagued by droughts and agriculture failures (Hill). In 2005, researchers concluded that the 300,000 deaths resulting from a 1970 drought were caused by rising ocean temperatures (Fields). Today, this trend has repeated itself in other countries. For example, Madagascar, which lies in the far south, has been the recipient of warming oceans and extreme drought (“Africa”). Madagascar’s situation is precarious, and scientists are concerned that the country’s future is in danger (“Africa”). Both the Sahel and Madagascar have been harmed by climate change, and their past problems continue to resurface today.

     Now, there is more and more attention on the droughts and famine in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although there have been some conflicts over Africa’s livestock population (“African Experts”), it can be seen that in Sub-Saharan, the main concern is a lack of food, not a surplus of it. When a drought hit Madagascar in 2016, leaving half of the country’s children malnourished, scholars became concerned that the island’s sensitivity to global changes would lead to future complications (“Africa”). This tragedy brought more attention to the fragile state of Sub-Saharan African countries. Scientists predicted that global warming will hit Madagascar hard, raising temperatures by 2.9-4.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050 (“Africa”). It seems that at least for Madagascar, reasons to worry will continue to increase along with the global temperatures.

     Altogether, concern for not just Madagascar and the Sahel region is rising. South Africa is also a point of discussion, with intermittent droughts and flooding increasing in intensity over the past few years, bring attention from the scientific community (“Watershed”). As a whole, Sub-Saharan Africa is a fragile region, and the area’s past and present experiences with climate change are not promising for its future.

Works Cited:

"Africa: Climate Change." Global Issues in Context Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CP3208520147/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=13f423f6. Accessed 13 Mar. 2019.

"African Experts Say the Continent Must Address Livestock Methane Emissions." Interpress Service, 14 Nov. 2015. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A461883262/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=59ea7099. Accessed 15 Mar. 2019.


Fields, Scott. “Continental Divide: Why Africa's Climate Change Burden Is Greater.” Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Aug. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280367/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2019.

Hill, Allan G. "Famine in Africa." Encyclopedia of Population, edited by Paul Demeny and Geoffrey McNicoll, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2003, pp. 385-388. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3403900134/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=dba2c445. Accessed 20 Mar. 2019.

"Watershed moment to discuss approaches to water; Programme to tackle issues around our most precious natural resource." Cape Times [South Africa], 13 Sept. 2018, p. 10. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A554013876/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=babbeb71. Accessed 12 Mar. 2019.