The damage caused by desertification results from two separate, but linked, processes: one is the process of existing deserts expanding to infringe onto new areas; the second, faster and man-made one, is the loss of fertility and soil resilience caused by human activity and accelerated climate change, turning once fertile areas into deserts.<\/p>\n
Existing deserts are expanding in Africa and Asia. \u00a0Temperate areas of southern Europe, especially Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria and Romania[2]<\/sup><\/a>, are becoming arid as temperatures increase and rainfall lessens. \u00a0The UN estimates that five billion hectares of soil has been degraded by human activity[3]<\/sup><\/a>.\u00a0 And without a concerted effort, this figure will only increase.<\/p>\n The Aridity Index (AI) of an area is defined by the UN\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO<\/a>) as the ratio between the average rainfall it receives over a year and the potential evapotranspiration \u2013 the amount of water it will lose in evaporation[4]<\/sup><\/a>. \u00a0An AI of less than 0.65 means that an area is designated as dryland. \u00a0Lower and it can become dry sub-humid, semi-arid, arid and ultra-arid.<\/p>\n As AI is a ratio, two factors can decrease it: reduced rainfall and degradation of the soil. As soil degrades, its ability to retain water is damaged, increasing the amount it loses to the air.<\/p>\n The main cause of this creeping threat?\u00a0 Climate change.\u00a0 The total global amount of rainfall has increased in the last century, but at the same time, rising temperatures have resulted in greater evaporation[5]<\/sup><\/a>. \u00a0In conjunction with local causes and direct human activity decreasing the land\u2019s ability to hold onto water, the world\u2019s AI is on a downward trend.<\/p>\n Clearing an area, especially felling trees, for livestock, agriculture or development, means the soil is no longer bound together with plant roots. \u00a0It breaks apart, giving up its moisture to the Sun. \u00a0An uncontrolled excess of grazing animals on the cleared land, their hooves breaking up the soil and their appetites killing the remaining plants, will damage the earth\u2019s water-retaining qualities even further.<\/p>\n Building on, or paving over, land disrupts the drainage and stops water from escaping underground. \u00a0Growing single monoculture crops and the overuse of weedkiller, leaving the soil bare after harvests, and clearing agricultural crop stubble with fire, all exacerbate poor water retention by the soil.<\/p>\n In addition to the immediate loss of agricultural capacity and wildlife habitat, losing land to desert further exacerbates overall climate change drivers, entering a vicious circle of environmental loss. \u00a0As sand takes over from fertile planted soil, the ability of that area to absorb carbon diminishes. \u00a0Sequestered carbon stored in decomposed plants is released more quickly as the soil dries out, and there is no new plant life to absorb it, resulting in a double blow for the climate.<\/p>\n All these factors and activities have left our planet with a problem: very large areas of land that people and animals depend on for their food and livelihoods, are becoming unlivable. \u00a0On their own, they will not recover as new plants cannot take hold in the arid ground. \u00a0Action must be taken if we are to prevent this problem from becoming a disaster.<\/p>\n The history of the Ningxia Hui region of China demonstrates the dangers of desertification[6]<\/sup><\/a>. \u00a0Almost completely surrounded by the vast Tenggeli, Wulanbu and Maowusu deserts, Ningxia is a pocket of grasslands, historically grazed by livestock and supporting some viniculture. \u00a0The land provides food, export income and livelihoods for the people living there.<\/p>\n At the sand\u2019s high point in 2010, 55% of the area was affected by desertification, almost 3 million hectares of land. \u00a0<\/p>\n Farming was severely affected, and the Yellow River became polluted with silt from the failing soil, reducing water quality downstream and increasing the risk of flooding. \u00a0<\/p>\n Devastating sandstorms swept across northern China causing millions of dollars in property and crop damage as there was nothing standing in the way of the wind.<\/p>\n The World Bank<\/a> estimated that three million people suffered directly from the loss of land quality[7]<\/sup><\/a>. \u00a0The economic effects were so harsh that more than 80% of the people in poverty in China were in Ningxia.<\/p>\n Desertification is not only a problem for our ecosystem, but also a pressing political and business issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Around two billion people live in areas at risk from desertification.\u00a0 If no action is taken, 50 million could be displaced by degradation of soil by 2030[8]<\/sup><\/a>, just eight years away.\u00a0 Land that has become desert is far less able to support agriculture. \u00a0<\/p>\n The people who depended on it slip into poverty and food insecurity and cannot take action to improve their circumstances alone. \u00a0<\/p>\n Eventually their position becomes impossible, the poor land requiring more resources than they can afford to give it, and they must migrate to survive.<\/p>\n These people are not economic migrants by choice but \u2018environmental refugees\u2019, fleeing from a man-made disaster they have no control over. \u00a0So far, the rest of the world has been able to absorb relatively large movements of people but if desertification continues the strain will begin to show. \u00a0Without effective, prompt action, the situation appears to be bleak, but human ingenuity is being applied to the problem, and is finding success.<\/p>\n In a project supported by the UN and the World Bank between 2012 and 2020, key areas in Ningxia Hui were protected by the planting of diversified indigenous grasses and shrubs in patterns designed to maximize their effect on the soil, supported by ecologically responsible water management structures. \u00a0Grazing was limited to protect development without harming local farming business.<\/p>\n The degradation of soil was quickly halted and has been reversed in many areas, with tens of thousands of hectares seeing improvement where before they seemed to be irreversibly spiraling towards ultra-aridity. \u00a0Water quality improvements in the Yellow River alone have been calculated by the World Bank to have saved the Chinese Government more than US$ 200 million in clean-up costs[9]<\/sup><\/a>, many times the amount spent on the project.<\/p>\n Changes to farming methods, soil-conscious planting schemes and water management have turned Ningxia Hui from a region on the brink of disaster into an example of hope. \u00a0Later studies have shown that the reclaimed land in Ningxia is sustainable[10]<\/sup><\/a> and the trend towards desertification has been reversed[11]<\/sup><\/a>. \u00a0How can the same success be exported to other regions?<\/p>\n In the past, the problems caused by desertification were largely seen as a concern only for NGOs, charities and governments.\u00a0 But increasingly, the private sector is recognizing the threat from desertification \u2013 and how it can play role in finding solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disruption of markets, supply chains and workforces are problems in purely financial terms as well as socially, and any company that plans for its future will do everything it can to prevent them. \u00a0That makes working to prevent climate change and preserve the soil a business positive, rather than an optional extra. \u00a0The key to helping the planet lies in in corporate balance sheets as much as it does in the social consciences of business people.<\/p>\n Established in 1994, it brings together 196 countries and the EU in a joint initiative to manage and restore the world\u2019s land. \u00a0This decade, 2021-30, is the UN Decade of Environment Restoration[13]<\/sup><\/a>, the centerpiece of which is the drive to halt and reverse the process of desertification.<\/p>\n Governments, NGOs and, crucially, businesses all over the world are partners in the UN Decade of Environment Restoration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nowhere is the effect of the campaign better felt than along the path of the Great Green Wall project. \u00a0Planned as an 8,000 km line of woodland across the width of the Sahel region of northern Africa, the Great Green Wall will act as a bulwark against desert expansion along the southern side of the Sahara, restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million jobs in rural areas[14]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n Reforestation projects such as this are all-important in the fight against deforestation and, ultimately, desertification, but the agencies involved, such as Tree Aid<\/a>, an international NGO, know that simply planting trees with no further development or management will not achieve their objectives. \u00a0Tree roots are the largest single factor in halting the degradation of soil and therefore the desertification of a region, but they cannot work alone, and invasive non-native tree species can bring problems of their own, such as imported species of pests and novel plant diseases.<\/p>\n For the Great Green Wall \u2013 and other reforestation initiatives like it \u2013 to be more than a token gesture, programs must adapt their plans to the local sites they work in, using local types of grasses and herbaceous plants around the trees. \u00a0This ensures the plants will thrive as they are suited to local conditions, provides habitats for existing wildlife and wild grazing for livestock in appropriate numbers, encouraging new growth.<\/p>\n The sustainable solution is not only about planting trees and plants, however.\u00a0 It is also about training local people in their care and management, spreading knowledge and understanding, improving skills and education and improving opportunities, while also solving the immediate problems at hand.<\/p>\n In the Great Green Wall, local businesses, established by local people and equipped by the program\u2019s partners, carry out the work and are employed to tend the plants as they grow. \u00a0Tree Aid acts as a conduit for knowledge gained by business on the ground, spreading good practice to their other partners, increasing project success and associated economic prosperity by listening to the people they are helping.\u00a0 Farming communities benefit from the improvements to their soil and access to water. \u00a0The income provided by the ability to grow food and keep animals increases the power of the people most affected by desertification to work against it.<\/p>\n Responsible water management<\/a>, the use of water-efficient devices such as washing machines and lavatories, the recycling and treatment of waste water<\/a> and strict limits on river pollution, along with technological direct solutions such as desalination, can ensure more plentiful supplies of water to even the most arid areas without placing unsustainable strains on local ecosystems[15]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n Some parts of the process require larger investment in technology, and this is where businesses have a key role to play in areas such as water management. \u00a0Where water is scarce, either through natural conditions, recent changes due to climate change or the inability of degraded soil to hold on to moisture, it must be imported. \u00a0<\/p>\n Pipelines are an option, but they are expensive and inflexible. \u00a0Desalination plants, on the other hand, have been creating pure, clean water for drinking and irrigation for decades and, particularly with recent advances and investment in green desalination technologies<\/a>, could be a truly green way of contributing, even in a small way, to the solution.<\/p>\n I\u2019m proud to say that Abdul Latif Jameel<\/a> is already a major player in the desalination industry that could play an important role in anti-desertification efforts. \u00a0Through our pioneering water business, Almar Water Solutions<\/a>, part of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services<\/a>, it supplies 3.5 million people across the globe with pure drinking water[16]<\/sup><\/a>, including its landmark facility at Shuqaiq 3<\/a>, in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n The Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab at MIT (J-WAFS<\/a>) is also undertaking pioneering work in this area.\u00a0 For example, a J-WAFS funded research team in the Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Lab, led by Amos Winter, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, are using an engineering and design approach to design efficient drip-irrigation technologies to be used in Sub-Saharan Africa.\u00a0 Meanwhile another J-WAFS team, led by Stephen Graves, Professor of Management Science at the Sloan School of Management, and Bishwapriya Sanyal, Professor of Urban Development and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies, has been investigating irrigation technology in Senegal and barriers to adoption from a supply chain and policy perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n Similarly, the problem of desertification is one of the areas of focus of the Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action<\/a>, which works with a wide range of partners, including communities in East Africa, to bring together data, science and practice for food-secure and resilient lives and livelihoods in drylands worldwide<\/p>\n At present, the world\u2019s deserts are still growing, and soil is still degrading faster than it is being restored. \u00a0Desertification is an imminent problem that requires an urgent response.<\/p>\n Thanks to pioneering work in China and elsewhere, combined with the international drive to address the issue, a solution to the problem is visible. \u00a0<\/p>\n Indigenous planting; care for the soil and water management carried out by local people looking after the land that gives them life has been shown to reverse the effects of previous mismanagement and climate change. \u00a0The process brings income and independence to areas that had before been slipping, seemingly irreversibly, into poverty.<\/p>\n Awareness of this problem is rising.\u00a0 Understanding is advancing and the political will is growing.\u00a0 We need to work together to build on these positive foundations, bringing together the leadership, resources and technologies to halt the spread of the sand.\u00a0<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/srccl\/chapter\/chapter-3\/<\/a><\/p>\n [2]<\/a> https:\/\/op.europa.eu\/webpub\/eca\/special-reports\/desertification-33-2018\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.unccd.int\/news-stories\/press-releases\/ibrahim-thiaw-re-appointed-unccd-executive-secretary<\/a><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> https:\/\/www.fao.org\/dryland-forestry\/background\/what-are-drylands\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n [5]<\/a> https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/climate-indicators\/climate-change-indicators-us-and-global-precipitation<\/a><\/p>\n [6]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cn.undp.org\/content\/china\/en\/home\/operations\/projects\/environment_and_energy\/ningxia-anti-desertification-and-livelihood-improvement-.html<\/a><\/p>\n [7]<\/a> https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/results\/2021\/07\/26\/halting-desertification-in-china<\/a><\/p>\n [8]<\/a> https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/environment\/article\/desertification<\/a><\/p>\n [9]<\/a> https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/results\/2021\/07\/26\/halting-desertification-in-china<\/a><\/p>\n [10]<\/a> https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0140196398903962<\/a><\/p>\n [11]<\/a> https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1674927814500020<\/a><\/p>\n [12]<\/a> https:\/\/www.unccd.int\/convention\/overview<\/a><\/p>\n [13]<\/a> https:\/\/www.decadeonrestoration.org\/about-un-decade<\/a><\/p>\n [14]<\/a> https:\/\/www.greatgreenwall.org\/2030ambition<\/a><\/p>\n [15]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/energy-and-environmental-services\/water-environmental-solutions\/<\/a><\/p>\n [16]<\/sup><\/a> https:\/\/almarwater.com\/main-figures\/<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/1758-ALJ-Stopping-Sand-scaled.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nA lesson from China?<\/h2>\n
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Around the beginning of the 21st Century, it became clear that Ningxia\u2019s green fields were in danger of disappearing altogether. \u00a0<\/p>\nPolitical instability<\/h2>\n
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The solution at Ningxia<\/h2>\n
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Partnership vital to success<\/h2>\n
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The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification<\/a>[12]<\/sup><\/a> is a statement of intent to lead the worldwide fight against the spread of existing deserts and the creation of new ones due to increasing aridity of land. \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media.alj.com\/app\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Great-Green-Wall-300x150.jpg\")
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Power of the private sector<\/h2>\n
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Hope for the future<\/h2>\n