Tropical Africa: Food Production And The Inquiry Model
...such as drought, floods, the changing of the
jet stream patterns and other natural disasters. They are beyond our control.
It has been estimated that one third of the land in Tropical Africa is
potentially cultivable, though only about 6% of it is currently cultivated.
However, to change farming from a low-input low-yield pattern to a high-input,
high-yield pattern necessitates the use of more fertilizer and the planting of
high-yielding varieties of crops
There are a number of environmental factors, related mostly to climate, soils
and health, resisting easy developmental solutions. Rainfall reliability is
closely connected to rainfall quantity The rainfall in the equatorial heart is
very plentiful and reliable. However, there is much less rainfall towards the
outer edges of the rain belt. Periodic and unpredictable droughts are a
characteristic feature of these border zones.
There are three climatic zones in Tropical Africa: 1.a region of persistent rain
at and near the Equator 2.a region on each side of this of summer rain and
winter drought, and 3.a region at the northern and southern edges afflicted by
drought.
All the climates listed in the previous paragraph are modified in the eastern
parts of Tropical Africa by the mountains and monsoons.
The soils of Tropical Africa pose another problem. They are unlike the soils of
temperate areas. Soils are largely products of their climates, and tropical
soils are different from temperate soils because the climate is different.
Because of the great heat of the tropics tends to bake the soils, while on the
other hand, the rainfall leaches them. The combined heat and moisture tend to
produce very deep soils because the surface rock is...
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