Discuss the distinguishing characteristics of each of any three of the following (a) Plantation agriculture in East Africa (b) Irrigation farming in the Nil...

Choosing (b) Irrigation farming in the Nile Valley, (c) Pastoral nomadism in West Africa and (a) Plantation agriculture in East Africa.

(b) Irrigation farming in the Nile Valley

• Practised in a hot desert with almost no rain, so all water comes from the River Nile led onto the land through basins, canals and lifting devices (shaduf, sakia, pumps).
• Intensive and sedentary, on narrow but very fertile alluvial flood-plain land, using much hand labour.
• Grows cash and food crops such as cotton, rice, sugar cane, wheat and vegetables, often two or more crops a year.

(c) Pastoral nomadism in West Africa

• Practised in the dry savanna and Sahel (for example by the Fulani) where rainfall is low and unreliable and crop farming is difficult.
• The herders move about (are migratory) with their cattle, sheep and goats in search of pasture and water, following the rains north and south.
• It is extensive and subsistence in nature; animals supply milk, meat and hides, and wealth is measured in the size of the herd rather than in crops.

(a) Plantation agriculture in East Africa

• Large estates, often foreign or company owned, growing a single cash crop (monoculture) such as tea, coffee, sisal or sugar for export.
• Uses much hired labour, heavy capital, scientific methods and on-site processing of the crop.
• Located where climate, soils and relief suit the crop (for example tea and coffee on the cooler, wetter highlands), with good transport to ports.