Sahel

Sahel (sähĕl`), name applied to the semiarid region of Africa between the Sahara to the north and the savannas to the south, extending from Senegal and Mauritania on the west, through Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, N Nigeria, Chad, and Sudan, to Ethiopia and Eritrea on the east. Beginning in the late 1960s the Sahel was afflicted by a prolonged and devastating drought that further reduced the region's normally meager water supplies, shattered its agricultural economy, contributed to the starvation of an estimated 100,000 people, and forced the mass migration southward of many people. Although rainfall and international relief efforts helped, drought and famine affected the Sahel again in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.

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Sahel

 Arabic Sahil

Semiarid zone, western and north-central Africa. Extending from Senegal eastward to The Sudan, it forms a narrow transitional band between the arid Sahara to the north and the humid savannas to the south. Beginning in the late 20th century, it was subjected to increased desertification and soil erosion caused by natural climate changes as well as overgrazing and overfarming. The countries of the zone suffered a devastating drought and famine in the early 1970s, and by 1973 sections of the Sahara had advanced southward as much as 60 mi (100 km). Severe drought and famine again struck the region in 1983–85. Efforts by local governments to combat desertification in the Sahel have met with limited success.