Most of sub-Saharan Africa is savanna, home to the elephants, lions, and zebras for which the continent is renowned. Throughout the region, intense pressure on national parks from farmers and herders imposes difficult land-use choices on governments seeking to preserve wildlife.
Only a small percentage of the land is irrigated, and overgrazing and deforestation is making desertification is a growing problem. As in the rest of Africa, civil unrest, inadequate transportation systems, and environmental degradation play out against a backdrop of multiplying human populations.
