Geo Factsheet

September 1997 Number 28

Desertification - Causes & Control

Desertification can be defined as the diminution or destruction of the biological potential of the land, often resulting in ‘desert’-like
conditions. Many observers believe that desertification is caused by a combination of both physical and human factors. This Factsheet
will summarise these factors and outline some of the techniques which have been used to try to prevent or slow down the process.

Fig 1. Map of Arid and Semi-arid Climates of the World

Key

Severe desertification

Moderate desertification

Exam hint - This topic is often

examined in a relatively straightforward
essay. However, candidates should
ensure that they show an
understanding of both human and
natural causes and of their interaction.

What is Desertification? Table 1. Areas and Numbers of People Affected by at Least Moderate Desertification
Desertification can be defined as ‘land degradation by Region
in drylands resulting from human actions’. In
other words, desertification is the loss of soil
Affected Area % Affected Population %
and its productivity in the arid and semi-arid
regions of the world (defined as having less than (1,000 sq km) Total (millions) Total
250 mm of rainfall per year) mainly due to its Africa 7,409 37 108.00 38
overuse by man. By undermining food production Asia 7,480 37 123.00 44
and contributing to malnutrition and famine,
desertification can have devastating
Australia 1,123 6 0.23 0
consequences. Med. Europe 296 1 16.50 6
N. America 2,080 10 4.50 2
The extent of the problem: S. America & Mexico 1,620 8 29.00 10
• 20 million km2 of land are degraded every Total 20,008 100 281.23 100
year and this affects over 280 million people
(Table 1). The symptoms of desertification include soil 1. The occurrence of droughts (periods of
• More than 110 countries have drylands erosion, loss or degradation of vegetation, below-average rainfall), which can last for
potentially at risk from desertification, with desiccation of the soil profile, lowering of the years.
the possibility of affecting 900 million water table, dune formation or reactivation and
2. High temperatures which cause a high rate
people. Those already suffering include salinisation.
of evapotranspiration (the loss of moisture
Africa (both North and South), China, from the Earth’s surface by a combination of
Pakistan, Australia and North America. What Causes Desertification? direct evaporation and transpiration from
Desertification does not differentiate between A combination of natural and socio-economic plants) and therefore a high rate of moisture
developing and developed countries. processes are responsible for the degradation of loss from soils.
soils.
• The problem does not just occur on the 3. Infrequent and often intense periods of
fringes of natural deserts, but in any dry area. Natural processes rainfall which compacts soils, increasing
• The United Nations claim that $45 billion There are three main climatic factors that their erodibility.
will be needed every year for the next twenty influence the onset and continuation of
years to reclaim degraded land. desertification processes:

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Desertification - Causes & Control Geo Factsheet

Socio-economic processes (a) To support increasing populations. shorter periods of time. Nutrient contents fall
There are four main human actions which and soil structure deteriorates. This leads to
accelerate desertification - overgrazing, (b) When rural people are encouraged to grow reduced crop yields and vegetation cover, leaving
overcultivation, deforestation and poor irrigation. ‘cash crops’ for sale in city markets and for soils exposed to erosion by wind and rain.
export.
1. Overgrazing. This occurs where herd sizes (3) Deforestation and excessive fuelwood
exceed the carrying capacity (the number A common feature of all cash crops is that they cutting. Forest is cleared for agriculture or
of cattle that can graze an area sustainably are extremely demanding in their nutrient fuelwood. This leads to reduced shade and
i.e. without long term damage occurring). If requirements. If farmers lack natural or artificial greater desiccation of the soil, a lowered water
this capacity is exceeded: fertilisers or are unable to allow sufficient fallow table and an increase in the use of dung
periods, fertility will rapidly decline. Such a (otherwise used as fertiliser) as a fuel source.
(a) Vegetation changes, e.g. drought-resistant process has been repeated in many African The resulting loss of organic matter reduces
species replace edible species. countries - in Chad the area under cotton was both the ‘stickiness’ of the soil peds and the
forcibly tripled by Government order and in water-holding capacity of the soil; its
(b) Soil quality is reduced, e.g. grazing animals Niger huge increases in the cultivation of erodibility therefore increases.
compact and break down the soil structure, groundnuts (peanuts) led to rapid decline in yield
increasing its vulnerability to erosive and fertility. (4) Inappropriate irrigation practices.
processes. Fertility is reduced through salinisation (the
Declining fertility may lead people to cultivate build up of salt around the roots of plants)
(c) The health of livestock and their marginal areas i.e. those which are inherently and waterlogging (caused by poor drainage
productivity decreases. incapable of sustaining food production e.g. steep and the formation of an impermeable salt
slopes which are highly erodible or areas which crust on the soil surface).
(2) Overcultivation. May occur when receive irregular and/or insufficient rainfall. Soil
increasing food production is needed: fertility will inevitably fall if vulnerable lands The combination of these and other biological,
are left fallow (uncultivated) for shorter and soil and water factors are summarised in Fig 2.

Fig 2. Summary of the Causes of Desertification

Drought
High rainfall variability Alternate wet/dry season
leads to dry soil eroded
by sudden rains
Climatic factors
High evapotranspiration -
High temperatures soil dry. Rapid
decomposition of organic
matter - little binding

Increased erodobility
Low clay content Increased crusting
Poor nutrients
Low water retention
Soil and water factors

Humid zones Acid soils suffer from pH Desertification

and aluminium toxicity

Reduced labour
High disease and
Biological factors Crop losses
pest occurrence
Low animal productivity

No long-term investment
in improvements
Uncertain tenure Male labour migration
leads to excess burden on
women
Social factors
Overgrazing
Overuse of land Overcultivation
Deforestation
Poor irrigation

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Desertification - Causes & Control Geo Factsheet

lack of government financial assistance or as many studies have shown, desert margins
Exam hint - Pass grade responses will
technical aid means that villagers often feel they naturally oscillate by tens of kilometres over
provide reasonable descriptions of the
processes involved. A-C grade responses
have little long-term security or stake in the land. periods of a decade. Other researchers have
will show a thorough understanding of the Such insecurity does not encourage sustainable explained the importance of the difference
interaction of natural and socio-economic agriculture. between a meteorological drought (a period of
factors and will provide explanations of abnormally low rainfall) and an agricultural
several interactions. However, not all researchers believe that drought (a reduction in soil moisture leading to a
desertification has been accelerated by human decrease in agricultural production). Even in areas
activities such as overgrazing. Such sceptics point of the Sahel (see Case Study below), some
These practices are not carried out in ignorance; out that the United Nation's own estimates of researchers believe that there is conflicting
often, villagers fully understand the potentially desertification have an accepted margin of error evidence about both rainfall and agricultural
harmful consequences of overcultivation, of 10%. The spread of deserts along the edges of production and that the accuracy of scientific
overgrazing and deforestation. However, lack of the Gobi in China and the Kalahari in southern records is not sufficient to draw firm conclusions.
ownership of land or uncertainty of whether they Africa fall within this margin of error. It is becoming increasingly accepted however,
will even be allowed to cultivate an area from Desertification, it is argued, is much more a that global climate change is increasing the
one year to the next (uncertainty of tenure) and consequence of natural climatic variability and, likelihood and/or severity of drought.

Case Study: The Sahel Fig 3. The Sahel region extends across Africa along the southern edge of the Sahara.

The Sahel is a transition zone between the

Sahara Desert in the north and the savannahs
in the south.

Since the 1940s, 650,000 km2 of The Sahel

region in West Africa, south of the Sahara
Desert (Fig 3), have turned to desert. Reasons
for this include:

• This region has been going through a

long lasting decline in precipitation over
the last 50 years (Fig 4). Explanations
for this gradual change have included
changes in the ground’s surface reflective
properties and global climate (i.e. the
‘enhanced greenhouse effect’).

• Farmers who traditionally rotated crops

were forced to stop allowing their soil’s
vital fallow period. Population pressure
has been the main force behind this, and
the ‘carrying capacity’ of the land has
therefore come under strain as land is Fig 4. Rainfall Trends in the Sahel Region 1941-1988
not recovering.

• Farmers have been forced onto marginal,

less fertile land.
+1
Average normalized departure

Population growth in the region has often

been identified as the underlying cause of
factors such as overgrazing, overcultivation
and deforestation. The population of
0
Ethiopia, for example has increased by nearly
300% since 1950 and similar increases have
affected countries such as Somalia, Sudan
and Niger. Since rainfall is always erratic in
the region, the actual areas which can be -1
used for non-irrigated cultivation vary
annually. Severe drought in the late 1960s/
early 1970s, along with poor land use, led to
the deaths of between 50,000 and 250,000
people, 3.5 million cattle, sheep goats and
camels. 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

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Desertification - Causes & Control Geo Factsheet

Desertification has been successfully tackled in Table 2. Desertification Control Measures

many areas of the world. However, there have
been more failures than successes (see Box and
Table 2). Area to be Addressed Suggested Measures for Improvement

Crop Production (a) Develop drought resistant crop varieties

Reasons for the Failure of Measures to (b) Increase the use of organic fertilisers
Combat Desertification (c) Improve cropping and irrigation systems

• Lack of technical knowledge and the use

Livestock Management (a) Improve the quality of animals by disease control
of non-local techniques. For example,
in the Eastern Refugee Reforestation and selective breeding
Project, Sudan in the 1980s, only 28% (b) Reduce livestock populations to below carrying
of the windbreaks planted were capacity
successfully established, mainly due to (c) Improve rangelands by reseeding, allowing
incorrect seeding, lack of herbicides to regeneration time and planting new fodder crops
prevent competition from weeds and the (d) Improve infrastructure by digging wells and
damaging effect of heavy rains. improving roads to markets
(e) Introduce regional livestock raising schemes, self-
• Governments being centralised in their regulated by Pastoral Associations
approach to measures while poor people
living in marginal, ‘less visible’ areas Forestry Management (a) Protect existing trees
were overlooked. (b) Plant specially designed and managed fuelwood
forests
• Radical proposals required major (c) Improve household stoves to reduce wood
governmental policy changes which consumption
proved difficult to impose. (d) Introduce other energy sources, such as solar and
wind power
• Measures did not take local cultural and
socio-economic needs into account when
Water and Land Management (a) Improve irrigation schemes by redesign
they have been carried out, alienating
(b) Use measures which increase water harvesting, such
local communities. For example in Niger
as lines of stones
in the early 1970s, the increased sinking
(d) Increase incidence of windbreaks
of wells led to tribes from outside the
region bringing their herds to use the
new resource. This led to overgrazing. Socio-economic Factors (a) Guarantee tenure or ownership of land
(b) Use education to expand local awareness of
• Aid from donor countries was not desertification and to inform people of the skills to
directed properly. combat it
(c) Provide buffer stocks of food and resources for
• The use of resources was not planned people involved in schemes which may, in the short
well enough, leaving many projects term, reduce the output of their land
unfinished. (d) Improve health services

• After initial treatment and when

symptoms disappeared, interest in In Burkina Faso, West Africa in the early The most important point is that techniques
dealing with the problem waned while 1990s, walls of stones, known as 'magic stones' suggested for improving land use must be
the underlying problem still existed. were placed in fields to trap soil that would economically attractive to people in affected
otherwise have been washed away. Crop yields areas as well as being compatible with their
have since increased by 50%. cultures. Social needs therefore have to be
included in policies.
However, there have been many successes; In
In Northern China, a ‘Great Green Wall’ has
West Africa in the 1980s. Kad trees (a type of
been planted to hold off the advancing desert
Acacia, suited to drier climates), were used to
and stabilise eroded uplands. The San Bei forest
revitalise cropland and pasture in a number of
belt will eventually cover 3.5 million km2. Built Acknowledgements;
ways:
by local communities and assisted by This Geo Factsheet was researched and written by
• By buffering winds, preventing wind erosion government, this ‘wall of trees’ protects 80,000 Samantha White
of the soil km2 of valuable cropland. In 1990, the annual Geo Press, 10 St Paul's Square,
grain harvest was up by 13%. Birmingham, B3 1QU
• Fixing nitrogen, a vital plant nutrient, which
other plants can then use Geopress Factsheets may be copied free of charge by teaching
In Rajastan, India since the 1980s, Acacia trees staff or students, provided that their school is a registered
• Providing a plentiful supply of fuelwood have been used to stabilise 600 km2 of sand dunes. subscriber.
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ISSN 1351-5136