7.5 Geographic Insights: Sub-Saharan Africa Review and Self-Test

• 1. Climate Change, Food, and Water: Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because subsistence occupations are sensitive to even slight variations in temperature, rainfall, and water availability. In large part because of poverty, political instability, and having little access to cash, the region does not have much resilience to the effects of climate change.

  • Question

    Why are many African food production systems particularly vulnerable to climate change?

  • Question

    Why are African farmers and herders particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and water availability?

  • Question

    How do poverty and having little access to cash influence the vulnerability of many Africans to climate change?
• 2. Globalization and Development: During the era of colonialism, Europeans set up the pattern that continues to this day of basing the economies of sub-Saharan Africa on the export of raw materials. This leaves countries vulnerable in the global economy, where prices for raw materials can vary widely year to year. While a few countries are diversifying and industrializing, most still sell raw materials and all rely on expensive imports of food, consumer products, and construction and transportation equipment.

  • Question

    How did European colonization affect economic development and food production in Africa?

  • Question

    Why does being a supplier of raw materials put a country at a disadvantage in the global economy?

  • Question

    What are the current positive and negative trends in food production in sub-Saharan Africa?

  • Question

    Are there any exceptions in the region to the general pattern of economic dependence on exports of cheap raw materials?

  • Question

    Why is the development of manufacturing industries in sub-Saharan Africa considered such an important step in raising standards of living?
• 3. Power and Politics: Countries in the region are shifting from authoritarianism to elections and other democratic institutions, but the power structures in the region are resistant to democratization. While free and fair elections have brought about dramatic changes, distrusted elections have often been followed by surges of violence.
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  • Question

    What forces are working for and against democracy in sub-Saharan Africa?

  • Question

    To what extent can the weakness of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa be traced to institutions put in place during the colonial era?

  • Question

    What role have elections played in both diffusing and inciting violence?

  • Question

    What are some examples of authoritarian political structures that have given way to more democratic systems of government?
• 4. Gender, Power, and Politics: The education of African women and their economic and political empowerment are now recognized as essential to development. As girls’ education levels rise, population growth rates fall; as the number of female political leaders increases, so does their influence on policies designed to reduce poverty.

  • Question

    How are issues of gender influencing trends toward democratization?

  • Question

    Why have national crises led, in some cases, to an increase in women’s political empowerment?

  • Question

    What is the relationship between rights and education for women and the alleviation of poverty?
• 5. Population, Urbanization, Food, and Water: In part because of lower infant mortality rates and the higher cost of rearing children in cities, urbanization has the positive effect of encouraging families to limit births. Nevertheless, urbanization often happens in an uncontrolled fashion, leaving many people to reside in impoverished slums without adequate services, sufficient food, and clean water.

  • Question

    On what grounds would the claim be made that sub-Saharan Africa is not densely populated?

  • Question

    How is urbanization influencing population growth in sub-Saharan Africa? Relate these trends to the demographic transition.

  • Question

    What do population pyramids tell us about a country’s population?

  • Question

    What special spiritual role do children play in family and community life in sub-Saharan Africa?

  • Question

    Discuss the importance of urban gardening as an innovation in sub-Saharan Africa’s modernization.

  • Question

    What role do infectious diseases play in sub-Saharan African development, life expectancies, and use of resources?

  • Question

    Why do women bear the brunt of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa?