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Rural poverty and desertification When fragile land in arid regions is overexploited by the demands of an expanding population, it loses its productive capacity. The results are devastating. Land degradation affects more than 1 billion people and 40 per cent of the earth’s surface. In the severest cases the land becomes infertile and useless, precipitating famine and drought. Every year 12 million ha of land are lost to desertification, and the rate is increasing. Desertification is a major environmental problem that is advancing at an alarming pace. Arid and semi-arid areas cover roughly one third of the earth’s surface. These dryland regions, which may or may not border on deserts, receive little or no rainfall. Their ecosystems are fragile and are easily stressed beyond their already limited capacity. In the past such regions were home to small groups of herders and small-scale farmers. The land was grazed intermittently and was left to lie fallow at intervals. Now dryland areas are increasingly subject to the pressures of a growing human population. The causes of desertification are many and complex, but it is essentially inappropriate and excessive human activity that initiates the process. Competition for land and limited resources lead to unsustainable land management practices. In some cases migration as a result of conflict puts undue pressure on fragile areas. In other cases it is mining that causes the initial damage. Fragile areas are deforested, overcultivated and overgrazed. Trees and bushes are stripped away to clear more land for cultivation, or to provide firewood and timber. In the process the plant cover that binds the soil is removed. Animals eat away grasses and erode topsoil with their hooves. Intensive cultivation depletes the nutrients in the soil, while poor irrigation practices waterlog the land, raising the soil’s salt content to unsustainable levels. Once soils have been rendered fragile and been depleted and plant cover has been lost, wind and water erosion aggravate the damage, carrying away topsoil and leaving behind a highly infertile mix of dust and sand. The effects of desertification are potentially devastating and in the worst cases are irreversible. Desertification reduces the land’s resilience to natural variations in climate and disrupts the natural cycle of water and nutrients. It intensifies strong winds and wildfires. Other long-term detrimental effects such as dust storms and sedimentation of waters and streams are felt at great distances from where the problem originates. The loss of agricultural land to land degradation is extremely costly, and not only in economic terms. Desertification leads to prolonged episodes of drought and famine in countries that are already impoverished and cannot sustain large agricultural losses. Rural poor people who depend on the land for survival are forced to migrate or starve. This process is repeating itself throughout the developed and the developing world. Africa is the continent most severely affected by desertification. Asia follows close behind, and China in particular has a very severe problem. Large parts of Latin America are subject to land degradation. Desertification also affects North America, Australia and parts of Europe where clearing of land, intensive cultivation and inappropriate irrigation have led to severe degradation. The world’s poorest countries, where people depend on the land for their survival, are hit hardest. Poverty, intense competition over resources and political instability in developing countries exacerbate the problem and make addressing it more difficult. In the most severe cases of desertification the land becomes unusable and degradation is irreversible. But it is possible to combat desertification by using particular techniques, and much can be done to stop land degradation from reaching the point of irreversibility. Financial resources are required, as well as a commitment on the part of governments to act to save the land. With careful management marginal lands can continue to feed the populations that depend on them. Source: IFAD |
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