Africa is a continent that suffers from many problems in many areas. The name of the continent has become synonymous with poverty, hunger and disease. These problems are connected with each other significantly. Many observers believe that the successive African crises are because of some reasons such as violence in most African countries, corruption that is rooted in the majority of African governments and stagflation which puts the continent in the mouth of hunger and unemployment(Stewart, 2004). However, there are other factors which are responsible for Africa's crises such as unstable environment, the growing population and agricultural difficulties (African ecology, 1990). In fact, climate change leads to drought in many parts of Africa, which forces many people to move from dry areas to areas where they can find a way to live. Usually this migration leads to conflict between indigenous people and migrants in order to obtain water and grazing land. The conflict may develop into war or genocide. This scenario happened in Darfur, and may occur in more than one place in Africa as long as drought is existent (Brown, 2006). This essay explains some causes of the drought in Africa, and suggests some promising solutions.
The effects of climate change are tragic and very heavy. Temperature has increased in the last century by an average of 0.7°C in Africa (Ogodo, 2006, p1). As a result of this increase, there are more than 900 million hungry people in Africa, and in less than a generation, 40% of the African wild life will be lost, and the African crops will decline by 5 % (Ogodo, 2006, p1). One of the problems which was expected in a report of the UN is that floods may kill more than 70 million people in the future in some Afric...
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It was newly testified that South Africa, with half the comprehensive average rainfall, will run out of water as soon as 2015. Experts estimate that South Africa will be short of 3-billion cubic meters of water by 2030 which amounts to 17% of probable demand. As water resources decline and water quality and reliability of supply become suspect, more and more people and companies are looking at alternative sources of supply.
Therefore, the fact remands this drought changed the way of East African peoples life and the affects on the children who never knew the environment any other way are all born into a life of inequality and with all the resources in the world and ability to make food surplus there is no reason to why people should be starving not only due drought but in any condition.
Famine has struck parts of Africa several times during the 20th century, and to this day is still going strong. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the average African consumes 2300 kcal/day, less than the global average of 2700 kcal/day. Recent figures estimate that 316 million Africans, or approximately 35 percent of the continent's total population, is undernourished. Although hunger in Africa is hardly new, it now occurs in a world that has more than enough food to feed all its citizens. Moreover, while Africa's population is growing rapidly, it still has ample fertile land for growing food. Hunger therefore reflects not absolute food scarcity but rather people's lack of access to resources—whether at the individual, house-hold, comunity, or national leve that are needed to produce or purchase adequate food supplies. The reasons people cannot obtain enough food are: several different historical patterns of in equality. These patterns include the in equalities between Africa and its former colonisers or contemporary financiers, and between Africa's rich and poor. It also includes in equality between members of the same households, where food and the resources needed to obtain it (such as land and income) are often unevenly distributed between men and women, old and young. Whatever the reasons for food deprivation, when the result is malnutrition it can do damage, increasing diseases such as malaria, rickets, anemia, and perhaps acquired immune deficiency syndrome aka AIDS Mal-nourished children suffer stunted growth and, often, learning problems. Malnourished adults have less energy to work. Over the long term, inadequate nourishment can cast communities into a cycle o...
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...ions both in the past and the present and is one of the best explanations of present day African underdevelopment, showing the importance of a historical approach to understanding current affairs.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.
Thus, all these problems like poverty, education, transport, health facilities is creating problem for African people to develop and live a healthy life. It is also affecting the economy of the country and therefore government and many other organizations should take steps to look after all these issues for better development of Africa.
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Climate change is an inevitable phenomenon that is being experienced globally in various forms such as temperature rise. Sea level rise, droughts, floods, hurricanes, landslides, etc. According to the forth assessment report of the IPCC project even with immediate implementation of mitigation strategies global climate change will continue for decades. Climate change is inflicting serious consequences on human wellbeing and will continue to inflict damages in the future. It is estimated that mean global temperature will rise by 1.8 ºC - 4.0 ºC by end of the 21st century (Izaurraade, 2009). A new global climate model predicts that in the coming decade the surface air temperature is likely to exceed existing records (Smith et al., 2007). Growing season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics by end of the 21st century will exceed the most extreme temperature recorded in the history (Battistic and Rosamond, 2009).
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