Desertification: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions

Definition and Scope of Desertification

Desertification is the gradual degradation of fertile land into increasingly arid, unproductive conditions. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification defines it as land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions resulting from climatic variations and human activities. It is not limited to the physical expansion of existing deserts; rather, it includes declining soil quality, vegetation loss, erosion, reduced water availability, and decreased land productivity. The immediate cause is usually the loss of vegetation cover, which leaves soil vulnerable to wind and water erosion. Desertification can result from drought, climate change, overgrazing, overcultivation, deforestation, unsustainable irrigation, and other forms of poor land management, often acting together with natural climate variability. It affects approximately 40–41% of Earth’s land area and threatens the livelihoods of more than two billion people, especially in developing countries and regions such as the African Sahel, the Gobi Desert and Mongolia, and parts of South America. Its scope includes environmental, economic, and social consequences such as dust storms, food insecurity, poverty, migration, and conflict over resources.

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Drylands and Global Distribution

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