Economic Activities

Economic Activities

Irrigation in the Nile Valley

• The Nile is Africa’s longest river at 6.671Km

• It flows to the northwards through the Sahara to the Mediterranean

Population distribution • The population of Egypt is 77 million

• People live in the floodplain of the River Nile and in the delta region

Annual Flooding

• Since ancient times, the Nile floodplain in Egypt was under water for several weeks every year

• When the waters lowered, people grew crops on the damp soil.

• The soil was fertilised by sediments carried by the waters

Disadvantages of the dam• Nile floodplain no longer floods annually;

therefore sediments are stored at the bottom of Lake Nasser.

• The canals that distribute the water contain a water snail that’s is harmful to humans

• Much water is lost through evaporation in Lake Nasser

The Aswan Dam• In 1975 the construction of the Aswan dam was

completed. • The dam stores millions of tonnes of water in

Lake Nasser and is released throughout the year through canals and pipelines along the Nile valley

Future plans

• Scheme being developed to irrigate parts of the western desert to help people move from the overcrowded Nile Valley

Case StudySaudi Arabia

Exploitation of Ireland’s peat lands• Raised bogs are found in

shallow depression in the midland counties and can be up to 12 metres deep.

• Blanket bogs are found in upland areas in the west of Ireland and are 3 to 4 metres deep.

• Bogs can be worked out (exhausted) in 50 years

Traditional methods of peat cutting

• Meitheals of workers cut turf using a sleán (a type of spade).

• The sleán was an example of traditional technology.

• Output was very slow

Bord na Móna• In 1946 Bord na Móna began to exploit Ireland’s

bogs.

• Modern machinery was used to exploit the resource.

• Bogs were drained to allow water to run off allowing the peat to compress.

• Machinery could then travel over the bogs

Stages in the exploitation of a bogi) The bog is drained ii) The peat is harvested iii) The peat is transported iv) The peat is marketed

Machinery used• Ditcher Miller Harrow Ridger

Peat products• Horticultural products such as peat moss • Peat briquettes are sold to domestic consumers

for home heating• Milled peat used in power stations to generate

electricityConservation

• Bord na Móna is now returning some bogs to wetlands and preserving them in their natural state for future generations to enjoy.

Fishing

Sustainable exploitation

• Fish is a renewable resource if it is sustainably managed

• Fish stocks will eventually disappear when trawlers take more fish than are replaced by breeding

Irelands continental shelf

• The seas off the Irish coast form a continental shelf

• This is an area of sea close to land in which large shoals of fish can thrive

The Irish fishing industry

• The Irish fishing industry was small in scale until recent decades (joining the EU in 1973)

• Many fishermen used small trawlers with small nets or in currachs

Fishing ports in Ireland

EU membership

• EU membership meant that Ireland surrendered its control of its fisheries to Brussels

• Ireland had to share its fisheries with other EU countries

• Therefore greater amounts of fish were caught especially after Spain joined in 1985

Modern fishing technology

Endangered Fish species• Due to overfishing 25 of the 56 species of fish

caught in Irish waters are in decline• These include cod, herring, hake, haddock and

sole

Reasons for overfishing include the following

• Too many well equipped trawlers are chasing too fish

• Illegal fishing in Irish waters• Juvenile fish are being caught reducing the next

years catch

Conservation • The Irish conservation box is an area of 100,000

km2 used for spawning ground

• Scientists check numbers of species of fish• Quotas are placed on the amount of fish caught• Number of trawlers is being reduced • Mesh size of nets is fixed so juvenile fish can

escape• Fishing season for some species is shortened • Trawlers from outside EU are not allowed to fish in

EU waters

Farming

Farming is a system with many inputs, processes and outputs

Inputs fertilisers & machinery

Processes milking cows & spreading fertilisers

Outputsmilk & beef

Mixed Farms

Processes throughout the year