Content
Soils
Content
Background: Arable land and grazing land are becoming scarce
Drylands, where in some years at least all precipitation simply evaporates, account for more than one third of the Earth's total land mass. They are home to a large percentage of the world's population, who try to eke out an existence there. More than two billion people live in these areas, and of them some 70 per cent live in rural areas, where they depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their survival. Developing countries in particular suffer most from the degradation of land and natural resources. The world's fifty least developed countries are particularly threatened by desertification. That threat is especially great in Africa, where 65 per cent of the arable land, 31 per cent of grazing land and 19 per cent of forests are considered to be damaged.
Swift action is called for, because the outlook is gloomy. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) expects that by 2025 the available amount of arable land will have shrunk significantly from a baseline of 1990. In Africa they expect the available amount of land to shrink by about two thirds, in Asia by around one third and in South America by some two fifths. This trend will be further aggravated by climate change, which will have dramatic consequences for food security. Thus, if we want to reduce poverty, we must tackle desertification, and conversely by tackling desertification we will reduce poverty.
The root causes: Less and less arable land for more and more people
Desertification is caused by people. Fertile land is seriously damaged by incorrect irrigation or by overly intensive use. Deforestation leaves the soil unprotected against erosion.
Strong population growth in particular leads to the over-exploitation of arable land. There are more and more mouths to feed, and traditional cultivation methods cannot keep pace. The rising demand for farmland means that even land that is unsuited to intensive agricultural use is pressed into service, and soon loses its fertility. The situation is further compounded by the fact that in some regions vast areas are given over to monocultures in order to meet the demand of rich countries for crops such as soybeans and maize.
In many countries, agriculture is neglected by the government. There is no sustainable land use planning, and water resource management leaves much to be desired. Small farmers do not have the cash or the expertise to farm their land sustainably. Frequently land laws do not give them the legal certainty they would need to make medium- and long-term investments.
Climate change is aggravating the problem, since its impacts are particularly drastic in the arid areas of the globe.
The result: A vicious circle of poverty and land degradation
Following over-exploitation and erosion of the fertile humus layer, vegetation cover becomes more sparse or vanishes altogether. The soil dries out and forms a hard crust, with the result that water can no longer penetrate the soil. The groundwater table drops, wells dry up, and the farmers' seed no longer germinates.
The people who live in the world's poorest countries generally have no alternative source of income and thus keep trying to wrest a living from the soil. They find themselves in a vicious circle of impoverishment and destruction of the natural resources on which they depend, which ultimately destroys the basis for their survival. Starvation forces many to leave their homes. They often end up in the slums around major cities, where they live in poverty, with little to eat and plagued by disease.
Desertification is not therefore just an ecological problem. It is also a social problem in the countries affected, and acts as an obstacle to sustainable economic development. The economic cost is put at 40 billion US dollars a year worldwide, but the indirect costs in the form of migration to the towns and cities, disease, and refugee flows are significantly higher.
The lack of arable land and water resources, which force farmers and livestock breeders to leave the land, are often the root cause of political crises and conflicts. Thus Germany's efforts in fighting desertification contribute not only to reducing poverty, but also to conflict prevention.
Information
Publications
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Combating Desertification
Leaflet
(PDF 1 MB, accessible) -
Development Policy Stance on the Topic of Land Grabbing – the Purchase and Leasing of Large Areas of Land in Developing Countries
Discourse 015
(PDF 477 KB, accessible) -
Biological Diversity
Strategies 166
(PDF 450 KB, accessible) -
Green Economy
(PDF 1.2 MB, accessible) -
Biosphere Reserves
Model Regions for a Green Economy
(PDF 2.3 MB, accessible)
