Social development is a positive change of the social institutions, the social behavior or even the way people, communities and other social structures relate to one another. Social development can range from the level of an individual through a smaller group to a whole society. Natural environment has been viewed to be affected negatively by activities that are aimed towards achieving social development.This has been the case in the world over, including Africa.
However, the reverse has also been happening in Africa whereby the natural environment has been known to cause a negative impact on the social development of human welfare. In this response, this paper is going to discuss the natural environment in Africa and its characteristics that makes it different from the rest of the world.It will then highlight the negative impacts of the natural environment on the social development as well as on the political development and economic development. A conclusion will then be drawn from this discussion.Natural environment in AfricaIn Africa, the natural environment is comprised of the living and the non living physical things that make up the surrounding. This is not specific to Africa but is the order in the whole world.
The major components of Africa's natural environment vegetation, wildlife, microbes, rocks, atmosphere and phenomena that occur naturally within Africa.However, There are some components that are within Africa but are not bound within its physical boundaries. Such components include the air, water, climatic conditions, solar energy and radiations. Some of the wild life especially migratory birds, although found in Africa are not bound within its boundaries and may be considered universal (World Bank,1999,p.
70).A number of these natural environment components despite being useful to man have had negative impacts on social, economic and political development of humans. One peculiar thing about the natural environment of Africa is that human intervention has been minimal and therefore terms like wilderness readily apply. Another characteristic of this environment is that all other world environments are in a way inclusive in the African environment.
For example temperate climates are in Africa's high mountains, extremely low temperatures on Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro, very high temperatures in the Sahara, Nubian and Kalahari deserts and pronounced biodiversity in these diverse environments are all unique to Africa.Natural environment and social developmentNatural environment has cost much on social environment in Africa. First, desertification has been increasing. Sahara desert has encroached towards south and to the north. Desertification is usually associated with droughts which have been occurring in Africa mainly due to unpredictable rain patterns and very low amounts with poor spatial and temporal distribution.
As a result, there has been recurring food shortages and both food and nutritional insecurity (James, 2006,p. 18). With the current condition of HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, there has been negative impacts of the desertification phenomenon. Lack of food security has directly led to alternative ways of living like young women engaging in prostitution and more youth turning to criminology. This has contributed to negative social development.The factor of food security has also been contributed by the natural component of wildlife.
(UN, 2005,p. 35) Wildlife has been destroying food crops in the field just before they are harvested. This is usually after so much time has been spend on the farms preparing and cultivating and after so much money and labor have been invested in the same farms. Money that could be spend in the purchase of other commodities to make a better living are diverted to the purchase of foods because the planted foods were destroyed by wildlife.
Other wildlife especially the carnivores attack and kill the livestock that most African communities subsist on. For example due to limited pastures and drought, most Maasai people in Tanzania take their animals in to the wilderness in the nearby Serengeti national park which has so many lions and leopards. Their livestock which they entirely subsist on as sources of food, money and social prestige are killed by these beasts.This causes so much loss for these Masai community.
There is also a big danger for loss of human life from wildlife attack. In Nigeria, people especially the children and the very old have been reported to have been killed by hungry monkeys when they tried to prevent them from invading on the maize fields. Similar cases have been reported in Kenya where those wild primates mock women mostly.The current global warming has caused increased desertification and loss of indigenous tree species.
Traditionally, these trees have served the African communities as sources of wild fruits, shelter construction material, and as sources of traditional medicine.With loss of several species, the health of these people is at stake given the recent emergence of difficult to treat diseases. These traditional medicines have proved to be sufficient for most modern diseases and therefore most modern African hospitals embrace herbal medicine.Natural environment and political developmentMost African communities have a cultural cohesion and attachment to the natural world. Pastoral communities view the maximization of their stocks as the solution to wealth creation.Any attempt by the government to make policies that are aimed towards de-stocking are readily rejected.
Communities that are tied to their natural environments and governments try to make policies to promote national unity like giving people freedom to settle anywhere, pastoral communities defend 'their land' and are against any form of intrusion.
