Desertification is progressing at a rapid rate. Meeting in Madrid from September 3-14 at the eighth international conference on the subject, the 191 signatory countries of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification must find new ways to slow this phenomenon and help the 250 million people who are suffering its disastrous consequences. Because if action is not taken today, one third of the world's population will be affected tomorrow.
The figures are indisputable. Desertification threatens between 20 and 40 percent of the Earth's land surface. According to the United Nations, two thirds of the arable land in Africa, one third in Asia and one fifth in South America could disappear by 2025. While they are among the hardest hit, developing countries are not the only ones to face such risks: in the United States, one third of the territory is already affected, and in Europe the greatest concern is in Spain, where one third of the country is undergoing desertification; in Australia, several central regions of the country are also threatened.
However, this is not an inevitable phenomenon. Desertification is by no means a purely natural phenomenon, and the human causes of land aridification and degradation are now well known: inappropriate use of soil (overgrazing, deforestation, excessive irrigation without proper drainage, etc.) is the first to blame.
However, while agriculture is often considered the culprit, it is also a victim. By rendering land infertile and thereby reducing the amount of arable land, desertification is one of the main obstacles to agricultural development. It is thus impossible to raise living standards, and affected rural populations have no other choice but to abandon their land and join the ranks of other migrants. Indeed, soil impoverishment is recognized as one of the causes of mass migration, particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa.
With the exception of a few local counterexamples, climate change generally exacerbates the consequences of desertification. By altering the geographic distribution, intensity and frequency of precipitation, desertification undermines the viability and productivity of many of the planet's agroecosystems.
Beyond the convention on desertification drawn up at the Rio Summit in 1992, which is merely a statement of intent, the Member States of the United Nations who came together in Madrid must agree on a new ten-year action plan to truly battle this phenomenon and propose strategies for adaptation to reduce the threats to agriculture and to global food security.
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