According to them, agriculture is the first and worst hit sector
when drought strikes, stressing that due to the impacts of drought, domestic
food production has declined in the past four decades and rural populations'
income dropped.
They noted that though oil supports a number of economies,
agriculture is still an important part of the region's Gross Domestic Products
(GDP) and essential for populations' food security.
“Droughts are costly and can severely compromise
the agricultural sectors,” they declared in a latest report made available to NaijaAgroNet, and endorsed by the FAO's Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and
Water Department, Mr. Rene Castro.
Further, NaijaAgroNet gathered that the latest drought in Northern Africa, which
was in 2015-2016, affected all countries and caused a significant drop in
cereal production in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
“As recently as the 1980s, 70 per cent of
Mauritanians were nomads and subsistence farmers. In
the past three decades, recurrent droughts have forced many to move to cities where they suffer
due to high unemployment and a severe lack of social services,” they noted.
the past three decades, recurrent droughts have forced many to move to cities where they suffer
due to high unemployment and a severe lack of social services,” they noted.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
Pix: FAO's Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, Mr. Rene Castro
