Survival in the Sahel

impossible to avoid. Infrastructural measures and better planning
could reduce both the known and the expected impacts of recurring
drought a great deal, but these measures are not carried out
to the extent they should be. Better planning for future needs and
more appropriate patterns of ise with regard to scarce land and
water resources could help considerably in preventing these resources
from being totally exhausted.
Migration
Migration to Mali's more humid southern region has been
a traditional strategy for avoiding drought. Here the climate is
more favorable and the soil more fertile. But the southern areas of
the country cannot accept unlimited numbers of migrants without
jeopardizing the natural limits of resource overuse, thus sparking
a new spiral of problems.
Deforestation
Extensive deforestation to obtain firewood and timber,
without adequate reforestation programs, is an explosive problem
in Mali. In many cases it has led to complete destruction of
forests. Since firewood is the country's central source of energy (it
supplies about 90 percent of all energy in Mali), and because no
alternatives that would at least reduce the dependency on firewood
are in sight, it is only a question of time umtil demand
exceeds supply, given currently available resources. The firewood
supply problem may not yet be acute in Mali, but the loss
of trees has nevertheless led to more soil erosion, which in turn
makes it more difficult to carry out afforestation to ensure wood
supplies in the future.
Overgrazing
Enlarging Mali's livestock herds in times of good climatic:
conditions increases the pressure on limited rangeland areas dur­
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