COPING WITH DROUGHT

Drought is a word that invokes strong emotions, principal among which are fear and panic. This is not surprising as the phenomenon is usually accompanied by a number of unpleasant developments such as famine, massive population movement, misery and, in extreme cases, death. These developments have implications for all Africans, starting from the peasant farmers, who stand to be transformed from subsistence agricultural producers into resourcesless consumers,to the state and federal governments which may be plunged into emergency and crisis situations which, if not successfully managed, could result in social unrest.
Since large areas of the country are drought prone, the consequences of these inevitable dry spells could be very severe. Because the effects of drought usually linger on, the impact of a drought on national development would be felt for years. One has to do with emergency measures and the other with routine measures. The emergency measures will involve mechanism designed to manage the immediate consequences of the drought when it occurs. An immediate consequences of any drought would be famine. In addition where whole population are forced to abandon their lands or pastures in search of food, there are bound to be other lasting and parallel consequences such as distress, sale of cattle by livestock owners in order to buy food, and abandonment of farming tools, and other farm equipment. Even if they do not move, farmers who are in distress are likely to consume the seed they should have set aside for the next sowing and sell their valuables in order to purchase consumption goods.
But the fact is that these emergency measures will be much more effective if a mechanism is also established to ensure adequate preparedness and defense against the occurrence of drought. The government should, therefore, be able to handle routine matters concerning preparation and defense against the occurrence of drought. In this regard, there should be a checklist of action plans against drought outcomes drawn up in advance and a permanent national drought relief fund for use whenever a drought occurs. In addition, measures should be taken to establish and maintain staple food stocks against emergencies. Similarly, emergency stocks of seed and farm tools would need to be organized for each of the zones.

Comments

READING AND UNDERSTANDING

All reading is geared to understanding. There would be no point in reading if we did not understand what we are reading. However there are many different obstacles in the way of easy understanding of a passage. It is your task as a reader to actively seek to break down the barriers to understanding. One block to understanding is caused by references in the passage to things that are outside it. Pronoun are the first examples of words that refer to people and objects. Sometimes, it is easy to follow the reference at other times, it is more difficult. Look at the opening sentence of the passage you've just read that begins this way "She was waiting for us:small, dowdy, dirty..." Who was waiting? Who was the person waiting for? (Perhaps you would also like to know why she was waiting.)Answers to these questions will surely help you to understand and thus follow the reference. The first thing to do is to ask questions like the ones we have just asked and to read t...

Natural soil

Natural soils are influenced by rainfall and temperature,heavy rain causes the soil to become leached. High temperatures increase the rate of decomposition of organic matter in the soil, thereby lowering its humus content. Thus, climatic conditions tend to produce poor soils in the tropics and rich soils in the temperate regions. Besides climate and vegetation, the parent rock material also contributes to the quality of the soil. For example volcanic rocks tend to produce fertile soils. Laterite, a red soil which is a product of leaching, is commonly found in the tropics. It is composed mainly of iron and aluminium compounds,and poor in humus and essential plant nutrients, such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. The black and brown soil of the temperate grasslands are the world's richest soils, with a high mineral and humus content. The light coloured desert soils tend to be very rich in minerals but have a low humus content. Mainly the soils ar...

Frequent masturbation

Frequent masturbation in young men is linked to higher risk of early prostate cancer , but it lowers prostate cancer risk for men in their 50s, a study shows. High levels of male sex hormones, or androgens, may increase a man's risk of prostate cancer . But different studies of this question, done in different ways, have reached different conclusions. To look at the question in a new way, a team of researchers looked at whether men with more intense sex drives were at higher risk of prostate cancer. About half the men got prostate cancer by age 60, and about half did not have cancer . The findings were surprising. Sexual intercourse did not affect prostate cancer risk. But frequent masturbation did -- in different ways, at different times of life. "Frequent masturbation during men's 20s and 30s increased their risk of prostate cancer. For men in their 20s, "frequent masturbation" was two to seven times per week. Compared to same-age men who reported mas...

Newsflashtalk.com Lifestyle, learning, health and food.

Search This Blog