Environmental Affairs

Lesson 7: Deserts never sleep

Readings, literature and sources

(1) Survival in the Sahel An ecological and developmental challenge Edited by Klaus M. Leisinger and Karin Schmitt and the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)

Key Problems and Challenges Facing Sustainable Development of the Fragile Lands OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA are explored in: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON STRATEGIES FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE FRAGILE LANDS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Anna Knox McCulloch, Suresh Babu and Tidiane Ngaido EPTD WORKSHOP SUMMARY PAPER NO. 7 (IFPRI) Washington, D.C. 1998 http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/ws/papers...

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Links on desertification:

· Food and Argriculture Organization - Desertification http://www.fao.org/desertification/defau...

· Grassroots Indicators for Desertification (IDRC) http://www.idrc.ca/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID... · Sustainable Development Networking Programme (India) http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in/resources/deser... · United Nations Development Programme- Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO) http://www.undp.org/seed/unso · United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification http://www.unccd.int/main.php

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The word "desertification" stands for diminishing or vanishing productivity of agricultural, pastoral and forested lands of the arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas of the Earth. Therefore desertification does not result from increasing the extension of existing deserts. It is rather due to the fragility of ecosystems in the arid and semi-arid lands. The main causes for desertification are: overgrazing, intensive agriculture, and animal husbandry, deforestation, poverty and social unrest. A more general cause for desertification is the pressure put on poor countries to include them into the world market economy through the cultivation of cash crops. They are usually monocultures requiring a high dose of fertilizer and pesticide inputs, which in turn have adverse physical and chemical impact on soil structure and cause the loss of the main nutrients of the soil. Definition source: http://www.eurplace.org/diba/coopera/ind... -------------------------------------------

The US National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) helps people and institutions develop and implement measures to reduce societal vulnerability to drought, stressing preparedness and risk management rather than crisis management. Their site provides many resources, including drought planning tools and guides. (See: http://www.drought.unl.edu/index.htm )

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