Three Reasons

There were three major reasons for the fall of Ghana. One was Invasion, two was Overgrazing, and three was Internal Rebellion. These next few paragraphs will tell you a little bit more about the fall of Ghana.

Invasion

In 1060 AD the Almoravids, north african muslims, invaded. They cut off trade routes and fought against Ghana's very strong army for almost 14 years! They weakened the empire and eventually conquered Ghana. This was a big effect on trade because with no trade routes, there was no trade. There was also no other empire to trade with. The Almoravids probably eventually opened up the trade routes so they could trade to keep their empire alive.

Overgrazing

When the Almoravids conquered they brought their animals along, such as: Cows, Goat, and Sheep. The animals ate all the grass so the soil was exposed. All the good soil either burned or got blown away. Without any good soil they couldn't farm so they didn't have any surplus of whatever they used to grow for trade.

Internal Rebellion

So Ghana was conquered by the Almoravids right, so all the people were conquered and they figured, "Hey, we are getting conquered and the rulers aren't doing a very good job of keeping our empire going so why don't we just join the Almoravids?" The people who were conquered by the Almoravids joined them and helped them conquer the empire of Ghana.