2.2 - Rolnictwo Afryki - kl. 8

AGRICULTURE OF AFRICA

GRADE 8

Grafonotatka

D. Płatek

Nacobezu z podstawy programowej:

Uczeń:

• wyjaśnia związki pomiędzy warunkami przyrodniczymi a możliwościami gospodarowania w strefie Sahelu oraz przyczyny procesu pustynnienia;
• przedstawia cechy i ocenia skutki stosowania rolnictwa żarowo-odłogowego i plantacyjnego w Afryce Zachodniej.

Agriculture plays an important role in Africa. In most of the countries 30% -60% of people find employment in this sector of economy. I some cases it reaches even 80% (Chad, Niger, Ethiopia)

Why there is not enough food for the increasing number of African population?

CONDITIONS OF AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT

ANTHROPOLOGICAL

NATURAL

PRZYRODNICZE

POZAPRZYRODNICZE

NATURAL CONDITIONS OF AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT

Przyrodnicze warunki rozwoju rolnictwa

• vegetative period (okres wegetacyjny) - it is long enough to grow crops all year round; the crops can be harvested even 3-4 times a year.

BUT...

• harsh climate - hot and dry or hot and very wet. In both cases, cultivation is very difficult or even impossible in some places.
• poor soils - as a result of harsh climate.
• lack of water - some areas can't be cultivated because of lack of rainfall and other sources of water (e.g. rivers, bigger lakes).
• repetitive natural disasters - especially long-lasting draughts (like in the area of Sahel)

The crops aren't too big and in most cases cultivation is possible after additional financial effort, e.g. extra watering. The areas of agriculture are located very unevenly. Most of them (60%) are in the eastern and central part of Africa.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT

Pozaprzyrodnicze warunki rozwoju rolnictwa

• using primitive methods of cultivation
• little use of agricultural machinery
• little use of fertilizers
• not too many irrigated areas (lack of water sources and money)
• disease-resistant seeds are rarely used
• small areas of cultivation - usually family farms which are sufficient only for the family. Because of lack of money, it is impossible to modernise the production (machinery, pesticides, fertilisers, irrigation). The crops are small and often lead to hunger.
• a problem with the area property and defining the borders of the farms
• not enough knowledge and skills of the farmers
• constant armed conflics and property damage in many countries - it makes the people to escape and stop cultivating their farms. The crops are often destroyed by the fighting sites.

TYPES OF FARMING IN AFRICA

The natural and anthropological factors cause that there are 2 different types of farming in most of the areas of Africa (especially Western Africa):

• slash-and-burn farming (rolnictwo żarowo-odłogowe)
• plantations (rolnictwo plantacyjne)

SLASH-AND-BURN FARMING

rolnictwo żarowo-odłogowe

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES:

• belongs to primitive farming
• fragments of land are burnt out in order to get some area used for farming
• on small plots (poletka) people cultivate ANNUALS (jednoroczne rośliny uprawne)
• after a few years, when the soil is not fertile any more, the field is set aside (zostawione odłogiem) and a a new area is burnt out.
• this type of farming is a SUBSISTENCE FARMING (produkcja rolna na własne potrzeby)

PLANTATIONS

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES:

• specialises in plants production aimed at export
• big plantations - these are large areas with single-crop farming (monokultury upraw)
• the efficiency (wydajność) is very high but it needs a lot of money
• such plantations belong to a small group of rich citizens or foreign companies
• this type of farming is destined mostly for export - that's why it doesn't directly impove the level of feeding of the locals.
• plantations are mostly located in South Africa (RPA), Western and Southern Africa.
• the most common plants on plantations: e.g. coffee grains, tea, bananas, cotton, cocoa grains

Sugar cane plantation

https://wordwall.net/play/10086/637/861

Some results of slash-and-burn farming and plantations

slash-and-burn farming

plantations

• not too much influence on the environment (e.g. very little use of chemicals)
• fertilising the soil with ashes (a lot of specialists question that advantage as many organisms die in fire)
• an increasing pace of soil erosion as a result of destroying the natural vegetation cover (pokrywa roślinna)

• negative influence on the environment and health as a result of using a lot chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers.
• descreasing the soil fertility as a result of single-crop farming (monoculture)
• cutting down a lot of valuable forests for plantations

FARMING IN THE SAHEL BELT

SAHEL is an geographical region in Africa located south of the Sahara Desert. It is a belt which is stretched along the parallel 15°N. Sahel has got very hot and dry climate and very little flora (roślinność): clusters of grass and single acacias (akacje). The annual sum of precipitation in this area is 200-500 mm and appears mostly during the wet season. The average monthly temperatures in this area exceed 20°C.

FREE RANGE HUSBANDRY

Pasterstwo koczownicze

The harsh natural conditions cause that free range husbandry is the most basic in this area. Free range husbandry can be also called NOMADISM. It is about to move from one place to another with animals to find a better place to graze (wypas). In Sahel the husbandry is mostly dependent on the changing amount of fresh grass and water. The direction and rythm of migrations is strictly connected with precipitation.

Nomads can cross even 800km yearly in search of fresh grass

Changes in the agricultural performance

Zmiany w działalności rolniczej

• a significant increase in the number of citizents of Sahel caused changes in farming in this area.
• more and more people give up NOMADISM and start to lead a sedentary lifestyle (osiadły tryb życia); they take up farming.
• water supplies are too little to meet the demands of people, so in order to produce more food they enlarge the areas for farming at the expense of fertile pastures (pastwiska)

Millet (proso), sorghum (sorgo) and corn (kukurydza) are the most often cultivated plants. They are very resistant for draughts.

DESERTIFICATION OF SAHEL

Pustynnienie Sahelu

In recent years the balance between the human activity and self-renewal of the environment (odnawianie się środowiska) has been disturbed. The process of natural environment degradation on dry and semi-dry areas is called DESERTIFICATION. DESERTIFICATION of Sahel has been caused by:

• an increasing number of people.
• more and more intensive agriculture
• bigger demand for firewood (drewno opałowe)

The manifestation (przejaw) of Sahel desertification is:

• detroyed flora (wyniszczona roślinność)
• soil erosion (erozja gleb)
• surface water decline (zanik wód powierzchniowych)
• lower level of ground water (obniżony poziom wód powierzchniowych)

Desertification is also caused by very hot climate and repetitive periods of draughts.

The process of desertification runs in stages and people are partly responsible for that. The area covered by trees is deforestated and destined for farming and breeding. It is excesively used. Animals often eat the plants with their roots which leads to uncovering the soil and its erosion. Wind brings sand from the Sahara. The area changes into desert. The climate warming also leads to this process.

WELLS AS A SOLUTION TO SAHEL PROBLEMS

studnie jako rozwiązanie problemów Sahelu

Building very deep wells in Sahel is a way to improve the situation of that part of Africa. The wells would provide the local people with water for them, their animals and their crops. These costly investments are co-financed by HUMANITARIAN ORGANISATIONS (organizacje humanitarne) fighting the problem of hunger.

Crops and breeding in Africa

Uprawy i hodowla w Afryce

Most of the agricultural production in Africa is PLANT PRODUCTION. The most important food crops (rośliny żywieniowe) are grain crops (zboża):

• millet (proso)
• sorghum (sorgo)
• corn (kukurydza)
• wheat (only in Arabic countries - mostly in Egypt and south-eastern part of Africa)
• rice (e.g. in Senegal)

Other important food crops:

• sweet potatoes (bataty)
• cassava (maniok)
• fruit (mostly citrus fruit)
• flavouring crops (rośliny przyprawowe)

ANIMAL PRODUCTION

produkcja zwierzęca

The most often bred animals are:

• cattle
• sheep
• goats
• camels.

Poultry and pigs are bred less often.

The only country where agriculture meet the feeding needs (zaspokajać potrzeby żywieniowe) of its citizens is South Africa (Republika Południowej Afryki - RPA). In this country only 5% of people work in agriculture. However, the agriculture is so intensive and modernised that they can even produce FOOD SURPLUSES (nadwyżki żywności). In other countries of Africa the agriculture is rather primitive and extensive, and highly dependent on natural conditions. The yield (plony) isn't too big, it is weakly mechanised and the fertilisers are rarely used. However, some countries play an important role in producing and exporting some products:

• 1st place - Nigeria - cassava (maniok)
• 1st place - Ivory Coast (Wybrzeże Kości Słoniowej) - cocoa grains
• 2nd place - Ghana - cocoa grains
• 2nd place - Tanzania - sisal (sizal)
• 3rd place - Nigeria - peanuts (orzeszki ziemne)
• 3rd place - Kenia - sisal
• 4th place - Madagaskar - sisal
• 4th place - Nigeria - cocoa grains
• 4th place - Nigeria - palm oil

HOMEWORK

For your howework - WATCH THE FILM!

https://www.cda.pl/video/4163872c6

Prepared by Daria Płatek

THAT'S ALL! :)

Prezentacja wykonana na podstawie podręcznika Nowa Era: Planeta Nowa 7, bazy Internetu, prezentacji p. Izy Kleinszmidt, portalu geografia24.pl.