Curbing the threat of desertification #UN

The growing menace of desertification poses a
distinct threat to the world's agriculture and eco-systems,
the United Nations agriculture agency warned today, as it
announced a new initiative aimed at curbing the spread of
land degradation and building resilience to climate change.
The programme, named Action Against Desertification and
launched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO ) in partnership with the European Union and the
African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP), will
devote some €41million to bolstering sustainable land
management across the world's most vulnerable areas in
an effort to fight hunger and poverty.
"Desertification and land degradation are very serious
challenges. They lead to hunger and poverty, themselves at
the root of many conflicts," FAO Director-General, José
Graziano da Silva, said in a press release marking the
programme's launch.
"But recent successes show that these problems are not
insurmountable. We can boost food security, improve
livelihoods and help people adapt to climate change."
The FAO reports that more than 70 per cent of people living
in drylands and other fragile ecosystems across Africa, the
Caribbean, and the Pacific derive their livelihoods from
natural resources. At the same time, an uptick in population
growth and climate change has placed increasing pressure
on these ecosystems, intensifying degradation and
desertification and putting millions of lives at risk.
In an effort to thwart the costly effects of desertification in
Africa, the Action Against Desertification will build on an
already existing "flagship programme" - the Great Green
Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative - which supports
local communities, Government and civil society in Burkina
Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal with the
sustainable management and restoration of their dryland
forests and rangelands.
Two-thirds of the African continent is classified as desert or
drylands and climate change has led to prolonged periods
of drought; over-intensive farming and over-grazing have
caused land degradation; and deforestation has turned once
fertile land into desert in many areas.
On that note, the FAO-backed programme it will support
agro-forestry while also incentivizing the creation of farmer
field schools where farmers can learn about the causes of
desertification and the best ways to combat and prevent it.
Meanwhile, in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, the new
initiative will target the problems of soil loss and degraded
natural habitats by helping local communities adopt
improved sustainable land and forest management
practices.
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