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| Desertification and Degradation of Ground. |
Desertification in Africa
By Louise Wornall
January 7, 2000
Everywhere in the world, countries are faced with uncontrollable
problems that will greatly effect their futures. In the continenof
Africa, many countries are faced with the problem of spreading
deserts, called desertification. This problem has many causes
but few solutions and could soon lead to a greater area of dry
and arid land than fertile farmlands and rangelands.
The continent of Africa contains one-fifth of the world's surface
and has some of the world's largest physical features, including
deserts. The Sahara, which is located in the northern part of
Africa, is the largest desert in the world. It also happens to be
one of many deserts that are getting larger every year because
of desertification.
Desertification can be defined as increasing desert-like
conditions in arid and semi-arid lands. This problem (which is
also known as desertization, sandification, and desiccation) has
so many causes that it is said to be irreversible.
Climate, humans, and livestock are the main causes of the
spreading deserts in Africa. Climate, however, is the main
reason that this problem is so hard to control. Prolonged drought
can leave land dried out and infertile which makes it just about
impossible for any type of vegetation to survive. Because
humans play no part in this, it is obviously the hardest for us to
control.
The climate's roll in desertification also leads to the problem of
livestock. When droughts leave the land dry with no trees or
grasses, those who raise animals must find other places for their
livestock to graze. And now that it's harder for grasses to grow
back, it is easier for overgrazing to occur. Thus, the combination
of Africa's low rainfall and involvement with grazing helps lead
land dry and destroyed by overcultivation.
Humans are a cause of desertification for many reasons.
Development and overpopulation are two. Cities need to grow to
support their population, and to do so, trees will be cut down and
replaced with construction sites. A growing population also
requires a growing economy, therefor rangelands will be
replaced with croplands, and the destruction of fertile land will
continue. Meanwhile, as the population continues to grow and
grow, there will be more and more need for reasons to
overcultivate and overgraze in order to feed mouths.
Yet the deserts continue to spread in all areas of the world (The
Sahara is said to move at the rate of 1km/yr, and has for the past
300 years). And as the encroaching sands destroy forests and
take farmlands and rangelands down with them, the economy is
equally damaged. Take, for example, food productivity. This can
be retarded by desertification, when farms are taken over by
desert land. Much of these farms grow food needed to feed
Africa's rapidly growing population, and some of these foods are
to be used as an export. But what can be done to help?
Solutions for desertification have been thought of, but a lot of the
ideas have turned out to be outrageous and even a little
unrealistic. As for the Sahara, one man came up with the idea to
construct a forest belt that is 15 miles wide and 1370 miles long
at the edge of the desert in hopes that it will not continue any
farther south. This plan obviously was not carried out! More
realistic measures, however, are being taken. The best that can
be done by humans alone is to spread global awareness of the
problem. If people can learn from the mistakes of others, maybe
desertification can be prevented from occurring anywhere else in
the world. Governments (mainly ones of countries that have fallen
victim to the spreading deserts), along with UN-organizations,
and many Sub-regional organizations, have taken part in this
worldwide alert through the media. This will do little to solve the
problem, however it is the best solution so far. If the problem is to
be completely solved, it cannot be done so by man (or at least
not in this day and age). Therefor, nature must do its part to
supply these regions with a normal amount of rainfall in order for
them to return back to normal. Until then, those faced with the
problem are advised to try to regulate their amounts of grazing,
population, development, etc. and do their best to keep land in
good condition.
Desertification is going to be a future challenge for Africa and
many, many other countries in the world. 110 countries (that
include over 1000 people located exactly in these regions), in
fact, are dealing with spreading deserts to this very day.
Hopefully, with more help and ideas from areas like the
government and the UN, a solution will be found and
deserification will end.
Desertification and drought
The mass wreck of the vegetative cover in a result of
degradation of ground and loss of efficiency refers to as
desertification. The reason of desertification are erosion,
mass destruction of a vegetative cover, intensive use of bio
resources and other antrapogenic and natural phenomena.
The origin of desertification in Northern Africa,
Mesopotomia, Iran, India, Central Asia, Aravian peninsula
and Australia is antrapogenic. Among the basic natural
phenomena a drought and wind erosion occupies the
special place. About 750 mln (12.5 %) population of the
Earth live on arid zones, and 90 mln- live in territories
undergoing tostrong desertification. In Azerbaijan more
than 60 % of the population live in Kura-Araks basin, where
the territory mainly concerns to arid or semiarid groups.
The reasons of desertification process: 1) destruction of
the vegetative cover and infringement of the soil layer as a
result of activity of the industry, realization of municipal and
irrigation work, 2) degradation of the soil-vegetative cover
in connection with using of plants as energy sources, 3)
destruction of a vegetative cover 4) reductions of fertility of
ground as a result of agriculture, 5) repeated salinization of
soils and increasing of natural lakes as a result of rise of a
level of grunt waters on the areas of artificial watering and
Caspian coast (in connection with increasing of its level).
The main factor of development of desertifiction process
and degradation of soil is erosion. 42.5 % of territory of
Azerbaijan, or 3672.6 thousand ha is a subject of erosion,
from them 1380.9 thousand ha (37.6 %) is weak, 1146.1
thousand ha (314.3 %) is average and 1145.5 thousand hà
(31.1 %) is strong eroded. Thus to erosion in this or that
degree is subject 44.5 % (712 thousand ha)of cultivated
grounds, 68.1 % (1500.4 thousand ha)of summer pasture,
15.2 % (15.6 thousand ha)of haymaking, 40 % (29.8
thousand ha) of long-term plantation and 26 % (270.4
thousand ha)of wood files. The reasons of eroded ground:
1. 82.1% of water erosion;
2. 10.3 % of wind erosion;
3. 7.6 % of irrigation erosion
Preliminary and rather approached accounts show, that the
area is strong eroded and practically degraded grounds of
agricultural fund comes nearer to 700 thousand hà and their
normative cost below 1000 mln dollars. By intensive
erosion is covered up to 7 % (84.4 thousand ha)of wood
files, in connection with this the damage is estimated in
100 mln dollars.
Other major factor of desertification process of grounds in
republic is salinization of soils. At that moment the general
area of watered grounds makes 1443 thousand ha, 598,8
ha (41.5 %) from them is covered by drainage, including
324 thousand hà (22.4 %) are available closed drainage
systems. On the degree of salinization non-watering ground
subdivided on: non-salted- 828.6 thousand ha(57.4 %),
weak salted-430 thousand ha (29.9 %), average salted
124,2 thousand ha (8.6 %) and heavily salted or
solonchik-59,1 thousand hà (4.1 %) . From these grounds
506 thousand ha is good meliorated, 697 thousand hà
have satisfactory and 240 thousand hà bad meliorated
condition. The total area of grounds, demanding of
overhaul, makes 435.2 thousand ha or 30.2 %.
The intensive salted grounds have practically left from
agriculture and their minimum normative cost makes 20-25
mln dollars.
At that moment, in connection with privatization of the
ground areas, and forthcoming global change in region the
desertification has become a more serious ecological
problem of Azerbaijan . Late it is possible to attribute
realizations of the projects of creation of a power corridor
east - west and the restoration of great silk way and other.
As a result of realization of these projects more than 1000
km2 of the fruitful ground areas will remain under designs of
these projects . Accommodation of the basic part of 1 mln
refugees and displaced persons from Nagorniy Karabag
and Armenia in Kura-Araks semi-deserted landscape also
raises the intensity of using of bioresources and can bring
to increasing of degradation of territory.
