What development opportunities does the Sahara desert provide

What development opportunities does the Sahara desert provide? • Describe how-mineral extraction; energy; farming & tourism provide social, economic and environmental opportunities for different groups of people.

Location – Where is the Sahara Desert The Sahara desert is located in northern Africa. It is the largest hot desert in the world. It covers countries such as Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Chad.

What Economic Development opportunities does the Sahara offer?

Mining Farming Tourism Energy

Mining • Resources such as limestone and gypsum (for making plaster) are found in the Sahara desert - and are valuable for the building industry. • Iron ore, manganese, and copper are the chief metals mined in the Sahara. Phosphate is exported in large amounts from Morocco

Farming • The desert area is not very fertile. Soils are quickly drained, and contain few nutrients. • The farming is limited, typically a few animals on more grassy areas and fruit. Most is subsistence farming. • Most of the Sahara's people live in oases and are engaged in agriculture. Dates, figs, and other fruits are the leading commercial crops. Wheat, barley, and a variety of vegetables are raised for local use. Crops are grown mainly by irrigation. • Egypt is hot and dry. Most Egyptians live in the heavily irrigated Nile Valley. The irrigated land means that farmers can grown food, both to feed Egypt's growing population and for export.

Farming Because Egypt's farmland is increasingly being lost to urbanisation, windblown sand salinity, the Eygptian government has begun a scheme to irrigate more land away from the Nile Valley. The Toshka Project will cost $70 billion and will use pumps and canals to transfer water from Lake Nasser into the Western Desert. It aims to: • increase Egypt's irrigated land area by 30% • enable high-value crops, such as olives, citrus fruits and vegetables to be grown • provide food, electricity and jobs for 16 million Egyptians in new towns in the desert • improve roads, railways and telecommunications • promote tourism

Energy • The Sahara is developing as a major source of oil, gas, and metal ores. The petroleum fields of Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, linked by pipeline to several Mediterranean ports, are important producers of oil and gas. • The large oil and gas reserves underneath the Sahara Desert are difficult to find and extract. For Algeria, though, oil and gas are an important source of income for the country (half its total income). • Using fossil fuels like oil and gas is not sustainable so Algeria is beginning to prepare for a future without them. Work has begun on constructing the country's first solar power plant. They aim to cover large areas of the desert with solar panels to then export the solar power to Europe through cables below the Mediterranean Sea

Tourism • Tourism is a growing industry, and locals can act as guides and provide transport – such as hiring out camels. • Tourism provides money and jobs for local people • However there can be downsides to tourism such as overcrowding, littering, damage to the wildlife and environment.

Describe and explain the economic opportunities that the desert provides (8 marks) Location – Where is the Sahara desert located? Describe and explain each of the economic opportunities that you have researched for homework.

The hot desert-an environment of challenges or economic opportunities? Discuss….