English Composition Final Essay Topic: Drought in Africa, 2019

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of drought in Africa, specifically focusing on the East and Sub-Saharan regions. It begins with an introduction to the topic and presents a thesis statement arguing that drought is an inevitable outcome of climate change and the depletion of natural resources. The essay includes an in-depth literature review, examining books, peer-reviewed journals, research reports, and newspaper articles. The author analyzes key findings from the literature review, providing context on the impact of drought on pastoral communities and the scarcity of resources. The essay concludes with recommendations on how drought in the regions can be mitigated, with special reference to the initiatives that can be taken by the international community. The essay references several studies to support its arguments, providing a well-researched overview of the issue.

Running Head: ENGLISH COMPOSITION FINAL ESSAY TOPIC
English Composition Final Essay Topic
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH COMPOSITION FINAL ESSAY TOPIC
Date
3.2.2019
Finalization of Essay Topic for English Composition
The topic that I am going to be working on for my English composition is Drought in
Africa, with special reference to eastern and sub Saharan Africa.
Strategies for Deriving Essay Topic
The decision to write a final essay on the subject of Drought in Africa has been
arrived at after reading a lot of literature and raw data on the subject matter on the internet.
Peer reviewed journal articles were accessed on the subject after coming across news pieces
and magazine columns about the problem of drought in East Africa and the efforts being
undertaken by local, regional and international actors to bring the problem under control. In
addition to peer reviewed articles and news pieces on the subject matter, visual media and
online video channels like Youtube.com and even social media like Twitter was accessed to
read more about the subject as widely as possible (Agutu et al., 2017).
Final Thesis Statement for the Essay Topic
The Drought in East Africa and Sub Saharan African is an inevitable outcome of the
depletion of natural resources due to climate change. Many erstwhile areas of the continent
are arid and dry because of the changing climatic conditions, with rainfall being reduced to a
bare minimum in the entire region (AghaKouchak, 2015).
Tentative Outline of the Final Essay
1. Introduction to the Topic and thesis statement

2ENGLISH COMPOSITION FINAL ESSAY TOPIC
2. In depth literature review that includes the review of books, peer reviewed journals,
research reports and newspaper articles on the subject matter.
3. Analysis of the key findings of the literature review
4. Recommendations on how drought in Eastern and Sub Saharan Africa can be brought
under control with special reference to the initiative that can be taken by the
international community for this purpose
5. Conclusion
Introduction to the Essay Topic
Pastoralists in Eastern Africa especially the Horn of Africa have been following the
changes in the seasons and the movements of their animals traditionally, for the purpose of
cultivation. However, the effects of severe drought like conditions here have compelled many
people residing here to move, with their hardly being any water for them and their animals to
drink, let alone to bathe (McNally et al., 2016). Across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia as well
as the autonomous area that is designated as Somaliland the drought has become quite acute.
As many as 10.7 million people are faced with the possibility of hunger, and death due to
hunger. With the rainfall being very low in all of these places, especially in the months of
March and April, when it is otherwise known to shower in plenty, concerns are rising as to
for how much longer it is that the drought like conditions will continue. This essay will
analyze the situation of drought in East and Sub Saharan Africa in detail, it will provide an
overview of the efforts being made by the international and regional authorities and local
communities to bring the situation under control and will conclude with recommendations for
the same (Vrieling et al., 2016).

3ENGLISH COMPOSITION FINAL ESSAY TOPIC
References
AghaKouchak, A. (2015). A multivariate approach for persistence-based drought prediction:
Application to the 2010–2011 East Africa drought. Journal of Hydrology, 526, 127-
135
Agutu, N. O., Awange, J. L., Zerihun, A., Ndehedehe, C. E., Kuhn, M., & Fukuda, Y. (2017).
Assessing multi-satellite remote sensing, reanalysis, and land surface models'
products in characterizing agricultural drought in East Africa. Remote sensing of
environment, 194, 287-302.
McNally, A., Shukla, S., Arsenault, K. R., Wang, S., Peters-Lidard, C. D., & Verdin, J. P.
(2016). Evaluating ESA CCI soil moisture in East Africa. International journal of
applied earth observation and geoinformation, 48, 96-109.
Vrieling, A., Meroni, M., Mude, A. G., Chantarat, S., Ummenhofer, C. C., & de Bie, K. C.
(2016). Early assessment of seasonal forage availability for mitigating the impact of
drought on East African pastoralists. Remote sensing of environment, 174, 44-55.