From the late 1960s to early 1980s famine kills 100,000 people, leaves 750,000 dependent on food aid, and affects most of the Sahel's 50 million people.

The economies, agriculture, livestock and human populations of much of Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso (known as Upper Volta during the time of the drought) are severely impacted.

As disruptive as the droughts of the late 20th century are, evidence of past droughts recorded in Ghanaian lake sediments suggest that multi-decadal megadroughts were common in West Africa over the past 3,000 years and that several droughts lasted far longer and were far more severe.