Much has been said about the encroaching Sahara desert on much of the other parts of the continent. What has not been much available are physical evidence of such encroachment. I have followed closely the adventures of Nigerian Chief Newton Jibunoh who had driven across the Sahara in the 60s and lately a few years ago to call attention to desertification, but I was not chanced to see the photo result of his trips. The man has driven from London to Lagos via the Sahara desert about three times now.
While flying back into the continent two weeks ago, these were the pictures I took of the desert areas of Northern Africa from Algeria until parts of Northern Nigeria.
The sad fact, according to reports of the road trip, is that much of Northern Nigeria that were still arable about a decade ago are now covered by desert sand and dunes. Much intervention is needed, and fast, before we lose even more lands to the encroaching desert – the largest in the world. Check out this satellite picture from NASA.