'Don't desert drylands': they will take care of you.

THE UNITED NATIONS HAS DECLARED 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, in order to raise public awareness and to protect biological diversity, including the knowledge and traditions of communities affected by desertification. It also aims to provide a platform to strengthen and empower people to become active agents of environmental stewardship, and to work in collaboration as partners towards a common objective.

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Desertification affects millions around the globe. About 30 per cent of the world's terrestrial surfaces are drylands that serve as a home to 900 million people. The most common causes of this critical environmental problem are inefficient land use and agricultural practices, high population density and changes in land patterns. According to the Desertification, Drought, Poverty and Agriculture Research Consortium, the other root causes are: drought, which depletes the earth's vegetative cover; climate change or shift, resulting in increased temperature in certain regions; population growth that creates deterioration of land due to increased productivity; poverty, which affects land quality, since the population is more likely to over-utilize available resources; institutional shortcomings, especially the lack of policies on land sustainability, resulting in land degradation; inadequate infrastructure and limited market access, which can prevent regions from producing more efficiently; ecologically unsound technology that leads to unsustainable and inefficient agricultural practices; and limited research and knowledge on development and conservation of natural resources. Loss of biodiversity also affects people's livelihood, as agricultural productivity is ultimately decreased due to the disruption of the food chain.

The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification states that desertification causes an estimated loss of $42 billion a year in agricultural production, contributes to food insecurity, famine and poverty, and can lead to social, economic and political tensions with dire consequences, such as political instability, population displacement and armed conflicts between neighbouring countries. Desertification has taken the biggest toll in Africa, where estimates show that approximately 34 per cent of the surface areas are under threat. This includes Mediterranean Africa and the Sudano-Sahelian region, where the problem was mainly caused by poorly managed agricultural activities. As the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stated, "the environment has been persistently abused in many parts of Africa for 30 years or more". Increased livestock due to population growth has saturated the carrying capacity of land. Lloyd Timberlake, author of Africa in Crisis, said the region "has taken too much from its land. It has overdrawn its environmental accounts", which has resulted in "environmental bankruptcy".

The first effort to address the issue of desertification took place in Nairobi, Kenya in 1977, when the United Nations held a conference and adopted the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification. Moreover, the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro called for a new, integrated approach, with emphasis on the promotion of sustainable development at the grass-roots level. It also called for the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to draft a convention to combat desertification, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1994 and entered into force in 1996; so far, 179 countries have joined the treaty.

Member States are taking drastic measures to raise awareness and educate people. For example, China, which is faced with severe drought, has established the "Green Wall" programme--a 2,800-mile, 9-million-acre tree planting effort--considered to be the largest ecological project at a cost of $8 billion. However, many scientists like Dee Williams, an anthropologist from the United States Department of the Interior, argued that the Chinese Government should pay closer attention to political solutions, such as paying farmers to reduce their livestock's numbers and raising water prices to encourage conservation and sustainable agricultural practices. Similarly, writer and environmentalist Alex Steffen emphasized a collaborative, top-down approach, stating that by "having some officials in Beijing point at a map and say 'plant trees here' will never match the results of directly involving villagers, whose fields are threatened by the swirling sands".

Even the Convention considers local empowerment central to combating desertification. But scientists realized that the one-size-fits-all theory would not hold true for all regions and have started paying attention to a holistic approach. Many communities have already taken steps to control and combat desertification.

Tenadi Pre-Cooperative of Mauritania: The Cooperative has taken innovate steps to reduce the impact of droughts and desertification, which have killed approximately 90 per cent of livestock in Mauritania. Founded in 1975 by more than 2,000 families, it has drilled boreholes using immersed pumps, reforested about 80 hectares of land to stop the movement of sand dunes, and utilized innovative agricultural techniques by creating a nursery that would serve as windbreak. It has also established an oasis that would allow diverse crops to be grown under palm trees.

Village of Struizendam (Botswana): Villagers in the southern part of Botswana are fighting the advancing sand dunes, while a new resource management committee is working to restore the indigenous vegetation and slow down desertification in Struizendam. With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a project was developed to conserve not only the vegetation and wildlife, but also local resources, such as firewood, grass for grazing and medicinal plants. It utilizes indigenous knowledge and traditional land management systems like fencing some communal grazing areas to allow land to rejuvenate. Some 13 other villages have completed a similar project, while two villages in Kenya and two sites in Northern Mali are developing one as well.

Shantumbu Community (Zambia): The main cause of desertification in Shantumbu is the unsustainable use of resources. Reliance on chemical fertilizer has not only reduced crop productivity but also turned the fields into unproductive lands. Unable to sustain fertilizer use due to limited financial resources, villagers have abandoned most of the croplands and cut down the forests, including indigenous ones, which has resulted in soil erosion and reduced productivity. But with the help of the Zambia Alliance of Women, the community has stayed away from unsustainable practices and is exploring alternative sources of energy and income, such as cooking stoves that utilize, besides charcoal, tree twigs, saw dust and dry cow dung. Moreover, to save indigenous forests from being depleted, community members are encouraged to have other productive business like poultry and pig-rearing, instead of crop agriculture.

Uganda Women Tree Planting Movement: Set up in 1985, the Movement works with rural women to promote reforestation and conservation efforts, including eco-friendly, income-generating activities. Ugandan women generally work in the fields, till the land, grow crops or rear domestic animals--their income is critical for the survival of their families and communities. Therefore, the work of the Movement becomes even more crucial, as its efforts in conservation techniques, education and training directly impact the target population--the rural women.

The International Small Group and Tree Planting Programme (Kenya): Farmers are provided with an economic incentive to plant trees in order to reduce excessive carbon dioxide emission. The Tree Planting Programme and the Clean Air Action Corporation give monetary incentive to farmers for agreeing to take part in this project. They are paid according to the amount of carbon dioxide they help remove from the atmosphere, which is calculated using state-of-the-art technology, such as the global positioning system.

The Green Belt Movement: One of the world's most effective grass-roots organizations, the Green Belt Movement started with the simple idea of planting a tree. Introduced in Kenya in 1976 by Wangari Muta Maathai, her concept has helped the local population plant more than 30 million trees. Her efforts and that of the Movement have been widely recognized by the international community, as acknowledged by her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Many African countries, such as the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, have followed a similar lead.

These examples of community initiatives demonstrate that the most effective way to combat desertification is to involve local communities. Indigenous groups have the highest stake in environmental sustainability; therefore, the best approach is to educate and train them on conservation efforts. As an unknown author once wrote: "Take care of the Earth and she will take care of you."