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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MJB" data-source="post: 3322427" data-attributes="member: 88928">Right on, Chosun! Most of the countries of the Sahel, with little foreign exchange, succeeded in extending agriculture to feed their populations, but over the last 3 decades, immigration, population growth (mostly steady but inexorable) and non-integrated damming of the Niger began to add to the pressure, but since much of the increased food production was rice, an unceasing proportion of that area became increasingly too saline for any crops. Many of these countries are now trying to purchase wheat on the open market just at the time the wheat price trend has soared upwards. (Main source: Zwarts, L, RG Bijlsma, J vd Kamp and E Wymenga. 2009. Living on the edge: wetlands and birds in a changing Sahel. KNNV. Zeist, The Netherlands.)The most likely result for the peoples of these countries is the dilemma: Do my family stay here and risk starvation or do we try to move somewhere that starvation is less likely (eg Europe)? - That could be 15 million people...</blockquote>