ABSTRACT
Drought is a primary agent of famine in Africa today, where the agricultural production environment is under increased stress from many factors. Studies of past environmental change and the northern African archaeological record indicate just how variable climatic and environmental conditions are in the Sahel-Sahara zone on timescales of centuries to millennia. Such studies also illustrate the sensitivity of rainfall in this region to hemispheric and global-scale changes in climate (Brooks, 2006). In Africa, where around half of cultivable land is arid and semi-arid, about 65 per cent of the croplands and 30 per cent of pastureland have been affected by degradation, with resultant declines in crop yields and food insecurity. High seasonal rainfall variability is endemic to the arid regions of Sudan and the resulting droughts have affected many inhabitants, who live with constant vulnerability and possess weak or poor coping ability to deal with hunger, famine, dislocation and material loss (Osman-Elasha, 2006).
