The beauty of deserts - the challenge of desertification

“The beauty of deserts - the challenge of desertification” is the theme this year of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17. The dual messages celebrate the beauty of these fragile ecosystems, while underlining the need to protect them. The day also highlights the problems faced by the millions of people who live in dryland regions.

Desertification is not the advance of deserts; it is the process of land degradation resulting from human factors and environmental change. Dryland ecosystems are very vulnerable to over-exploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and poor irrigation practices can all contribute to desertification. Currently more than 1 billion people in more than 110 countries are threatened by the problem. Sub-Saharan Africa, where 66 per cent of the land is either desert or dryland, is particularly at risk.

IFAD has made land degradation and its causes a central part of its work and has an ongoing commitment to address the issue in rural areas around the world. About 70 per cent of IFAD’s rural proverty reduction programmes and projects are in ecologically fragile, marginal environments and in the past 27 years the organization has committed over US$3.5 billion to support dryland development in developing countries. All IFAD programmes and projects are also screened for potential adverse affects on the environment, natural resources and local populations.

Women and desertification

In particular, IFAD has recognized the crucial role that women play in combating desertification and has supported initiatives that specifically target women’s active participation in dryland management. An IFAD report, Gender and desertification: expanding roles for women to restore drylands acknowledges women’s skills in the management of natural resources and the particular knowledge they have acquired through their traditional role of providing food, water and firewood.

The recent Conference on Women and Desertification in Beijing, China, saw the ratification of the Beijing Statement by IFAD and other parties. In this they agreed to step up support for women facing the problem of desertification.   

Lessons from IFAD-supported projects show that both women and men benefit from a gender approach that reinforces their joint participation in restoring the productivity of degraded land.

“Although there has been an important focus on women’s role in combating desertification, we need to acknowledge the crucial role men have in creating the solidarity required to address this issue at a local level,” says Sheila Mwanundu, IFAD’s senior technical adviser on environment and natural resource management. “All people living in such difficult conditions are an inspiration, not just by their physical strength but with their inner strength.”

Important Partnerships

IFAD supports the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which this year marks the 10th anniversary of its ratification.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is an independent financial organization established in 1991 to provide grants to developing countries for projects that have global environmental benefits and contribute to sustainable livelihoods. IFAD was selected as an executing agency of the GEF because of its expertise in addressing land degradation, its recognition of the links between poverty and the environment, and its crucial role in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

IFAD also hosts the Global Mechanism, which serves as a catalyst to mobilize resources to implement the UNCCD. A recent portfolio review has shown that between 1999 and 2005, 63 per cent of the financing approved under IFAD’s programmes and projects addressed UNCCD objectives.The Global Mechanism is hosted by IFAD because of the organization’s focus on rural development, agriculture and sustainable land management. Each builds on the other’s strengths and expertise to promote sustainable land management practices around the world.

IFAD also hosts the secretariat of the International Land Coalition. Since its creation in 1995, the International Land Coalition has served as a forum for policy dialogue and a convener of joint programmes and activities among intergovernmental, governmental and civil society organizations to improve the access by rural poor people to land and other natural resources. It does this by building alliances between development partners, including NGOs. It contributes to the development of public policy on issues related to access to land by generating new and additional knowledge based on experiences at the grass-roots level, and it positions important land themes in its advocacy and on the agendas of international, regional and national events.