GCSE · Geography · AQA · Spec 8035

Challenges of developing hot deserts

Try developing the Kalahari — a herd, a crop, a mine, a hotel, a road — and the desert fights every one. Then it fights the fix.

Build the web

What does the Kalahari do to development?

Imagine you've been put in charge of developing the Kalahari. Here are its challenges and the things people try to do there. Draw an arrow from a factor to anything it makes harder — or makes necessary. Guess boldly, then compare with the lesson's web and read why each arrow is there.

Extreme temperatures: scorching days, cold nights
Limited water: under 250 mm of rain a year in places
Inaccessibility: few roads across a vast, remote desert
Farming: herds and crops
Mining and tourism
Building the fixes: a water scheme and a highway
Protecting the rights of the San people

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This factor……made this happen or worse

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Exam line: A good explanation always finishes at the development: name the challenge, say what it does, then say which activity it holds back — a herd, a crop, a mine, a hotel or a road.

Commit to a number

How cold does a desert night get?

Kalahari summer days can reach 50°C. How low can the temperature fall at night? Drag to your best guess and lock it in.

Your estimate

20°C

Kalahari summer days can reach 50°C. How low can the temperature fall at night? Drag to your best guess and lock it in. Estimate between -10°C and 50°C.

-10°C50°C

Two fixes, one shared problem

Kalahari East Water SchemevsTrans Kalahari Corridor

Read the first row across both columns. What does the desert do to the people trying to fix it?

Focus

Why it was hard to build

Kalahari East Water Scheme

Its remote location made it very challenging to build.

Trans Kalahari Corridor

Material and a workforce had to be transported to remote locations, which made construction a severe challenge.

The insight

Same culprit both times. The desert's remoteness pushed back against the very schemes built to deal with its challenges.

What it is for

Kalahari East Water Scheme

Built in the 1990s to overcome the Kalahari's limited water supply.

Trans Kalahari Corridor

A highway connecting Botswana, South Africa and Namibia, which allows some economic activity.

Cost

Kalahari East Water Scheme

£27 million

Trans Kalahari Corridor

£370 million

Which idea do you hold?

Is it really all about the climate?

Think about everything that makes the Kalahari hard to develop — farming it, mining it, bringing tourists to it and building across it.

Which is closest to what you think right now?

It mostly comes down to the heat. Cope with that and the rest is easy.It's all about nature — the climate and the land. People don't come into it.New mines and tourist lodges must be good news for the people already living there.There are several challenges at once — temperature, water, access and the San's rights.

How sure are you?

I'm sureI think soI'm guessing

It mostly comes down to the heat. Cope with that and the rest is easy.

This is a common misconception

Heat is real, but it's only part of one challenge. Nights can drop to about 0°C, water is scarce, the desert is hard to get around — and there's a human challenge too. Beat the heat and three challenges are still waiting.

It's all about nature — the climate and the land. People don't come into it.

This is a common misconception

One of the four challenges is about people: protecting the rights of the indigenous San. When development moves them off land, or blocks their way to it, that is a challenge of developing the desert — not a side issue.

New mines and tourist lodges must be good news for the people already living there.

This is a common misconception

Not for the San. After coal, diamond and uranium deposits were found in the 1980s and 1990s, they were exploited at the expense of the San, forcing large-scale relocation. Lodges, hotels and new farmland also stop them reaching their ancestral land to hunt and gather food.

There are several challenges at once — temperature, water, access and the San's rights.

This matches the evidence

Yes. Extreme temperatures, limited water, inaccessibility and protecting the rights of the San people — and they don't stay separate. Development itself can create the fourth one, when it blocks the San from their ancestral land.

Four challenges, not one: extreme temperatures, limited water supply, inaccessibility — and protecting the rights of the San people.

Your turn to write

Explain it in your own words

Using the Kalahari as an example, explain the challenges of developing hot desert environments. [6 marks]

Your answer

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

The mark scheme

Heat as a challenge, with its effect: e.g. summer days of up to 50°C cause heat stress in livestock, or a very difficult working environment for mining. (1 mark)
Cold as a challenge, with its effect: e.g. nights of about 0°C bring frost damage to crops that are not frost resistant. (1 mark)
Water shortage, with its effect: e.g. under 250 mm of rain a year in places, so farming is extremely difficult or large-scale tourism can't be supported. (1 mark)
Inaccessibility, with its effect: e.g. few roads, many four-wheel drive only, so supplying remote mines is very difficult. (1 mark)
The San people's rights: e.g. mineral exploitation forced large-scale relocation, or lodges, hotels and farmland block access to ancestral land. (1 mark)
The solutions are challenges too: e.g. remoteness made the Kalahari East Water Scheme or the Trans Kalahari Corridor very hard to build. (1 mark)

Model answer

The Kalahari is hard to develop because of its extreme climate. In summer it can reach 50°C by day, which harms livestock through heat stress and makes mining a very difficult place to work. At night it can fall to about 0°C, and frost damages crops that are not frost resistant. Rainfall is below 250 mm a year in places, so farming is extremely difficult and a large-scale tourism industry can't be supported. Getting around is a challenge as well: roads are few and many need four-wheel drive, so supplying remote mines is very difficult. Development also affects the San people, who were forced to relocate when minerals were exploited and are kept from their ancestral land by lodges, hotels and farmland. Even the solutions struggle: remoteness made both the Kalahari East Water Scheme and the Trans Kalahari Corridor very hard to build.

Strong answers are chains, not lists: every challenge you name should end at something people are trying to do in the desert.

Exam line: Aim for one clear chain per challenge — challenge, effect, development held back — and use Kalahari facts to prove each one.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Why herds, crops, mines, hotels and roads all struggle in the Kalahari — and why even the fixes were hard to build.

What you need to know

Hot deserts such as the Kalahari are hard to develop because of their extreme climate: extreme temperatures and an extreme lack of rain.
The four challenges in the Kalahari are extreme temperatures, limited water supply, inaccessibility, and protecting the rights of the indigenous San people.
Temperatures: summer days can reach 50°C, and because of the lack of cloud cover, nights can drop to about 0°C.
Water: some areas of the Kalahari receive less than 250 mm of rain a year.
Inaccessibility: few roads, many only passable with four-wheel drive, across a desert of almost 900,000 km².
The fixes: the Kalahari East Water Scheme (1990s, £27 million) and the Trans Kalahari Corridor highway (£370 million) were both hard to build because of remoteness.

The big picture

Using the Kalahari, this lesson shows the four challenges that make hot deserts hard to develop — extreme temperatures, limited water supply, inaccessibility and protecting the rights of the San people — and why even the schemes built to overcome them were hard to build.

Key points

1Heat of up to 50°C can give farm animals heat stress, dehydration and reduced feed intake, and can cause death; it also makes a very difficult working environment for mining.

2Nights near 0°C can mean frost damage for the many desert crops that are heat tolerant but not frost resistant, and livestock must cope with extreme heat and extreme cold within a day.

3Very low rainfall makes both arable and pastoral farming extremely difficult, and leaves too little water for large-scale crop growth or a large-scale tourism industry.

4Heat can soften road tarmac and strong winds blow sand across roads, making them dangerous; remote sites make transporting materials to and from mines very difficult.

5Coal, diamond and uranium deposits found in the 1980s and 1990s were exploited at the expense of the San, forcing large-scale relocation; lodges, hotels and farmland block their access to ancestral land for hunting and gathering.

6The fixes face the same desert: the water scheme was very challenging to build because of its remote location, and moving materials and a workforce made building the Trans Kalahari Corridor a severe challenge.

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Worked example

Problem

Explain why inaccessibility makes it difficult to develop mining in the Kalahari.

⚠ Watch out

Writing 'it's too hot' as the whole answer. Heat is only part of extreme temperatures — nights can drop to about 0°C — and temperature is only one of four challenges. Don't leave out the human challenge: protecting the rights of the San people.

🧠

Memory hook

Hot days, cold nights, dry land, far away — and the San's land at stake. Then the twist: 'far away' fights the fixes too.

✓

Check yourself

Without looking back: name the four challenges of developing the Kalahari, then explain what made both the Kalahari East Water Scheme and the Trans Kalahari Corridor hard to build.

Flashcards

(14)

What are the four challenges of developing the Kalahari?

Extreme temperatures, limited water supply, inaccessibility, and protecting the rights of the San people.

How hot can a Kalahari summer day get?

Up to 50°C.

How cold can a Kalahari night get — and why?

About 0°C, because of the lack of cloud cover.

What can extreme heat do to farm animals?

Cause heat stress, dehydration and reduced feed intake — and potentially death.

Why are cold nights a problem for many desert crops?

They are heat tolerant but not frost resistant, so they can suffer frost damage.

Why is extreme heat a challenge for mining?

It makes a very difficult working environment.

How much rain do some parts of the Kalahari receive?

Less than 250 mm a year.

What does the limited water supply mean for farming and tourism?

Arable and pastoral farming are extremely difficult, and there isn't enough water for large-scale crop growth or a large-scale tourism industry.

How big is the Kalahari, and why does that matter for mining?

Almost 900,000 km², so remote sites make transporting materials to and from mines very difficult.

Kalahari East Water Scheme: when, how much, and what for?

Built in the 1990s for £27 million to overcome the limited water supply.

What is the Trans Kalahari Corridor?

A £370 million highway connecting Botswana, South Africa and Namibia, which allows some economic activity.

What made both the water scheme and the highway hard to build?

Remoteness: getting materials (and, for the highway, a workforce) out to remote locations.

How did mineral discoveries affect the San people?

Coal, diamonds and uranium found in the 1980s and 1990s were exploited at the San's expense, forcing large-scale relocation.

How do tourism and farming affect the San people?

Lodges, hotels and land changed to agriculture stop the San reaching their ancestral land for hunting and food gathering.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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What does the Kalahari do to development?

How cold does a desert night get?

Is it really all about the climate?

Explain it in your own words

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