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How German development cooperation is used to combat desertification
For many years the Federal Republic of Germany has been working to combat desertification within the framework of cooperation with its partners. According to the 2006 German national report on the realisation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, some 680 projects and programmes with this aim, worth a total of around 1.83 billion euros, had been supported within the scope of official development assistance and through the activities of non-governmental organisations. The focus was on sustainable land management and boosting harvests.
In order to achieve lasting success, support is not limited to individual sectors. The aim of combating desertification is integrated into all suitable development projects and programmes. Every project in an arid area, whether its main thrust is poverty reduction, rural development or policy advice, is aligned to the imperatives of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
To this end, promotion must address a variety of dimensions:
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The ecological dimension: The environmental conditions in which people live must be improved, for instance by means of adopting appropriate irrigation techniques or taking measures to prevent soil erosion.
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The economic dimension: Farmers and livestock breeders must be given support to enable them to use their land effectively without over-exploiting it. Economic promotion programmes can help them to tap into new sources of income by processing their produce and also selling it outside their home region. To this end the legal issue of land ownership must be clarified.
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The social dimension: All relevant civil society stakeholders must be involved in the elaboration, realisation and assessment of national action programmes. The same applies to poverty reduction programmes.
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The political dimension: In order to increase political participation on the part of poor individuals, they must be given opportunities to exert an influence on the political and societal decisions which directly affect their own lives. To this end, decentralised administrative structures must be put in place.
German development cooperation thus addresses all political levels: local, national, supraregional and international (for instance within the framework of the European Union, the World Bank and the United Nations).
The key role of women
In the fight against desertification Germany pays particular attention to women. In rural parts of developing countries they have a key role to play in the utilisation of natural resources. They produce the lion's share of food, both for their families and for market. They fetch wood for cooking and heating, and it is generally they too who must supply the entire household with water.
In regions affected by desertification, their workload is further increased, because erosion, and the loss of soil fertility and water sources jeopardise people's ability to meet the basic needs of their families. If the men are forced to look for work in the towns, the women are often left behind in the villages to look after the family on their own.
Yet in spite of the wide range of their duties and their special contribution, women are not generally entitled to own land, trees or water. They have very limited rights to have a say in or decide over the distribution and utilisation of natural resources. Frequently they have no access to loans or other forms of assistance, and their interests are not adequately taken into account at the political and administrative levels.
Development cooperation must therefore take account of the special role of women and their particular needs. With their knowledge about plants, animals and ecological processes in their home regions they are valuable project partners on the ground. The parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification have thus undertaken to involve women comprehensively when local measures to combat desertification are planned. The Convention also stresses the need to expand the range of educational opportunities open to women in the field of sustainable natural resource use, and help them tap into alternative sources of income outside agriculture. Germany is also working to ensure that women in all states are granted the right to own land.
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