Life in the Sahel

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Life in the Sahel Region The Sahel region begins at the Sahara’s edge and includes Gambia and parts of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan. The land here is marginal for farming - in good years, just enough rain falls in the Sahel to grow crops. During years of drought, life in the Sahel region becomes very difficult. The natural vegetation of the Sahel is a mixture of grasslands, acacia trees, baobab trees, and small bushes. Farther south, where rain is more plentiful, there is a greater variety of vegetation. The Sahel region was once the home of vast trading empires, and boasted some of Africa's most influential civilizations. A narrow band of semi-arid land south of the Sahara, the Sahel attracted both Arabs looking for gold from Sudan and Europeans looking for slaves from West Africa. The two influences merged with native ones, creating a culturally complex area. The Sahel is widely French-speaking, Islamic and takes its name ("shore") from Arabic. Nomads in Chad migrate with the rains that grow grass for cattle. Traditionally, two distinct populations have inhabited the region: pastoral nomads (or herders) and sedentary farmers, each with their own cultures but bound together by trade. In the past, these people have adapted to the challenge of farming and herding on marginal land in many ways. One adaptation was to plant crops such as millet and sorghum, which are grains that will flourish in dry places. Another adaptation was to use a farming system known as shifting agriculture. In this method, a farmer first cleared a field and planted it with crops for a year or two. Then the farmer moved on to a new field. Herders used a similar system to feed their animals, moving their herds from one grazing area to another throughout the year. Both of these systems provided worn-out fields with an opportunity to rest. During the
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