Tropical Africa: Food Production and the Inquiry Model
Hunger is the result of disasters 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 rapidly broken down by chemical weathering. All this causes
the food's rate of growth to slow down or maybe even stop and as
a result food production won't even come close in catching up to
the rate of population increase; therefore starvation and hunger
is present.
In the process of a flood and drought, the roots of trees
are shallow and virtually no nutrients are obtained from the
soil. The vegetation survives on its own humus waste, which is
plentiful. If the vegetation is cleared, then the source of
humus is removed and the natural infertility of the soils becomes
obvious. As being another factor, this will cause the soil to
produce wasteful and useless products which in turn will decrease
the production.
To conclude this essay, the climates in Tropical Africa take
a big role as being factors that could endanger or destroy the
process of plantation. On the other hand, it could also bring
good fortune if climatic regions are fairly good.
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