Write explanatory notes on drought under the following: (a) causes; (b) effects; (c) control.

Answer Details

Explanatory notes on drought

Drought is a long period of abnormally low or no rainfall which causes a serious shortage of water for people, plants and animals.

(a) Causes

• Prolonged failure or lateness of the rains and general low, unreliable rainfall.
• Deforestation and removal of vegetation, which reduce local moisture and rainfall.
• Southward advance of dry desert conditions (desertification) and dry, dust-laden winds such as the harmattan.
• Climatic change and shifting of the rain-belts, and over-grazing/over-cultivation that dry out the land.

(b) Effects

• Crop failure, famine and food shortage.
• Death of livestock and wild animals from lack of water and pasture.
• Drying up of rivers, wells and reservoirs, causing acute water shortage.
• Migration of people and animals, and outbreaks of disease and poverty.

(c) Control

• Afforestation and reforestation to check desert advance and improve local rainfall.
• Building of dams, boreholes and irrigation schemes to store and provide water.
• Practising good land management (avoiding over-grazing and over-cultivation) and planting drought-resistant crops.
• Providing relief materials and early-warning weather forecasting to affected people.