The Great Sahelian Drought

1968–1974 · Sénégal

From 1968 to 1974, a severe drought struck the Sahel, the semi-arid belt south of the Sahara. In Senegal, harvests failed, herds perished and thousands of families left their villages for the cities. This disaster caused famine and accelerated the rural exodus to Dakar, exposing the fragile bond between people and their environment.