Famine in Africa in 1985 drew the world's attention to the continent and in particular to the Sahel zone and Ethiopia. These regions, it was remembered, had suffered from drought and famine twelve years earlier. Was the drought still continuing? How had conditions changed over the years? What should be done to prevent such things happening in the future? Have geographers anything to contribute towards answering such questions? Usually academics confine their studies to only limited aspects of the situation, perhaps wisely, but not always convincingly. Here an attempt is made to provide a broad overview.