Deserts Aren't Much Fun, Just Ask Tom Joad.

The United Nations declared 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. So this is no small issue (be aware, 2008 is the United Nations International Year of the Potato, and 2009 will be the International Year of Natural Fibres; in addition, the years 2005-2015 are the officially recognized United Nations Water for Life Decade).

Desertification, while annoyingly unwieldy to say aloud, is a major environmental issue. It is the process by which topsoil uses moisture, thereby turning fertile land into arid, barren desert. The kind of place that T.E. Lawrence liked to hang out, but that doesn't have a lot of use in terms of providing food and water to humans and animals. As this map shows, large parts of North Africa are considered true desert. However, large portions of the continent are either at moderate or great risk of being turned into dry and dusty wasteland:
Desertification is caused by a variety of factors, among them drought and unhealthy grazing and farming practices. In the United States, the most famous instance of desertification occured during the 1930s, as the Great Plains became known as the Dust Bowl. Millions of people were forced to leave their farms and homesteads because the land was no longer arable. John Steinbeck wrote books about it, and Woody Guthrie sang songs about it. This same process is ocurring all over Africa and the world, with similarly tragic results.

The effect that desertification has and can have on communities and nations across the planet is potentially disastrous. But don't trust everything you read on this blog, see what Kofi Annan has to say about it. He positions the problem of desertification beyond that of an ecological disaster, and relates it to broader social problems. Specifically, Annan states that "desertification is both a cause and a consequence of poverty."


Through ecologically-conscious farming and grazing techniques, as well as soil conservation efforts, desertification can be halted and even reversed. The United Nations has recognized desertification as a global issue, and 191 countries have signed the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). However, the problem is not solved as easily as signing a treaty. It takes time, effort, and money to stop desertification, as well as personal involvement and a sense of social and environmental responsibility.