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This article looks at desertification both on a global scale and as it relates to Africa. This belt of land is south of the Sahara desert and extends east to west 5000km across the continent. The concept of desertification has recently been re-evaluated with two major outcomes. Filling nearly all of northern Africa, it measures approximately 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from east to west and between 800 and 1,200 miles from north to south and has a total area of some 3,320,000 square miles (8,600,000 square km); the actual area varies as the desert expands and contracts over time. Desertification is first and foremost avoiding the misuse of the land, such as inappropriate use of fertilizer, the use of some crops that are not appropriate for the land, or the type of tillage. advancing deserts per se) are inappropriate in many cases and that the general term 'dryland degradation' is a more accurate description of reality. It's overgrazing which simply means that there are too many animals that feed off the grass until it can't grow and become unprotected and starts to erode. The Sahel belt is hot and dry and on most of the days quite windy, it is definitely one of the hardest inhabited regions of our world. It includes parts of the countries Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea. 3. Firstly, the term itself has been reviewed, with most authors concluding that the emotive implications of 'desertification' (i.e. After distinguishing between desertification and drought . Most of North Africa is part of this desert. Desertification affects about 46 percent of Africa. Destined to become Botswana's signature commodity, the cattle will feed the southern African nation and contribute to its rapidly expanding exports. Desertification in Africa is already rather serious, but is a problem that will keep on growing into the future. desertification challenges must therefore be integrated into the national environment planning, poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies. The article rejects the commonly used concept of a degrading environment, but tries to explain the environmental problems as symptoms of a wider economic and political crisis. The Sahel is Africas transition zone between the Sahara desert in the north and the Savanna belt in the south. Additionally, desertification exacerbates the impacts of climate change and poses a human health risk beyond famine. Agriculture in Africa tends to result in low productivity, as most of the land is characterized as a semi-desert. Most of the desertification in Africa takes place on the coast. Cattle roam over grasslands at the edge of the Kalahari Desert. Red-shaded areas have a very high vulnerability. Desertification is defined here as the diminution or destruction of the biological potential of the land, and is caused basically by overuse of inherently fragile productive systems. Desertification is the imprint of man's activities on his environment. Sahel means in Arabic "coast" or "shore", literally it is also the "coast of the Sahara". The orange shaded part of the map represent that it is at high risk of desertification. This map illustrates the desertification vulnerability of regions across the globe. Africa is the simple answer to the question: where is desertification happening? Desertification is the process by which land turns into a desert. Africa and Asia are the most affected areas in the world by desertification. An alternative approach applying systems analysis of the entire socio-economic-system . Desertification occurs when human activities interact with climate variation. The Sahel stretches from the Atlantic Ocean eastward through northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, the great bend of the Niger River in Mali, Burkina Faso . More specifically, desertification plays its largest role in the grasslands of East Africa, the Kalahari Desert and the Sahara Desert. Defining desertification. Africa is the continent most affected by desertification, and one of the most obvious natural borders on the landmass is the southern edge of the Sahara desert. Maps - Desertification In Africa A map of Desertification. The green shaded part of the map is at a low risk of having desertification. These factors include very high birth rates and thus expansion of agriculture into unsuitable areas, uncontrolled tree cutting for a fuel, all connected with effects of climate change and bad government policies. The yellow shaded part of the map is at risk of moderate desertification. Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. Desertification is happening in many countries in Africa, but is most extreme in the Sahel region. . Facts. Sahara, (from Arabic ar, "desert") largest desert in the world. While in Kenya, around 80 per cent of the land is threatened by desertification. Desertification threatens human subsistence, as it makes natural resources including food and water much more difficult to obtain. Desertification is the persistent degradation of dry land ecosystems by human activities and by climate change. The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world. Desertification is happening at an estimated 20,000 hectares per. The Sahel region - a semi-arid area that spans much of western Africa, and is . Desertification in Africa. These regions span over 65 percent of the land. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity. It translates into scarcer rains and decreasing soil quality, which leads to less . The Sahara Desert encompasses an area of 9,200,000 square km, a size comparable to that of the US. Defining Desertification. There is a notable geographic pattern of desertification in Africa, covering many areas of mostly savannah land that already border existing deserts. The region currently faces extensive desertification caused by numerous factors. It forms a transitional zone between the arid Sahara (desert) to the north and the belt of humid savannas to the south. In Ethiopia, 80 percent of the land is at risk of . Botswana, 1984. Abstract. The term 'Desertification' is in circulation and may indeed win the lexicographer's approval in the near future. According to Dregne (1982) desertification is a process of impoverishment of terrestrial eco-systems under the impact of man. The assessment done by FAO and UNEP suggests that the desert is moving at an annual rate of 5 km in the semi-arid areas of West Africa. And in Africa's Sahel region, bordered by the Sahara Desert to the north and savannas to the south, population growth has caused an increase in wood harvesting, illegal farming, and land-clearing . Action Against Desertification helps ten African countries - Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan - in the sustainable management and restoration of their dryland forests and rangelands. . Yet, the process of reversing its effects is slow going, usually taking a decade to see major improvements. This article critically reviews the international debate on desertification, its status and rate as well as causes and consequences. A map showing global desertification vulnerability. Clearing the land of trees also reduces the structure of the soil. It presents a particular problem in Africa, where nearly 50% of land is at risk of desertification. At least 70 per cent of Ethiopia is prone to desertification. The impact of climate change and human activities are present in these areas with high levels of desertification compared to other areas in the world. The list of deserts in the African continent below show these nine deserts in descending size order: Sahara Desert 9.2 million km in Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morroco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan, and Tunisia A camel caravan makes its way across the Sahara Desert - the largest desert in Africa Extent of Desertification in Africa The human population in Africa's ASAL has doubled in the past three decades to nearly 400 million and continues to increase every year. Sahel, Arabic Sil, semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan. Africa has lost over 250,000 square miles of its productive agricultural land over the last 50 years. A full 77 percent of the country's 576,000 square kilometers is already used for . The vegetation index, "narrows the places to look for desertification," says Prince, and that is a vast improvement over "pin pricks in a map." Rainfall records compared to satellite vegetation measurements since 1981 show reduced rainfall and vegetation cover during the severe droughts in the Sahel during the 1980s (blue line). In 1994, the UN established the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as the "sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management". Approximately 35% of Earth's land is . 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