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afrol News, 16 June - Marking the international Desertification Control Day tomorrow, the UN food and agriculture agency FAO yesterday stated its firm support to the countries most affected by this environmental problem. Mali and Senegal are the two African countries receiving highest attention, and where most UN projects are implemented. However worldwide, "more than 100 countries, covering some 3 600 million hectares, are seriously affected by desertification," the FAO emphasized in its statement marking the day. Dr. Hosny El-Lakany, FAO Assistant Director-General, said desertification is like a "disease of the earth" which seriously affects the vegetative cover of croplands, pastures and woodlands, and has negative impact on biological diversity, soil fertility, the hydrological cycle, crop yields and livestock production. One of the main causes of desertification is increasing pressure on land resulting from rapid demographic growth and poverty, often aggravated by increasingly recurrent droughts, according to FAO. Combating desertification is complex and requires a long-term commitment and national and international coordination. Local communities must be actively involved in decision-making processes. FAO is supporting the implementation of national action programmes to combat desertification in Mali, Senegal and several countries outside Africa. In Africa, FAO is strengthening its cooperation with UNSO and the CILSS for desertification control in the Sahelian region and West Africa. The organization coordinated the UN initiative on the Horn of Africa, which includes countries most affected by desertification. In Senegal some selected small low cost projects are carried out by FAO "through steady participation of local agricultural communities." The development objective is to preserve and enhance local water resources in areas of scarcity. Specific objectives include implementation of water resources management techniques appropriate to ecological, social and economic local conditions and conservation management of natural resources and ecosystems. Mali represents a centre of effort in the Sahelian fight against desertification, both in research and the implementation of practical projects. The CILSS' Institut du Sahel (INSAH) is located in the Malian capital Bamako, specialising its research on dryland agriculture and the sociology and economy related to population and development issues. With more than 58% of its land desert and another 30% threatened by the continued encroachment of the Sahel, Mali has suffered tremendously since the devastating droughts hitting periodically since the 1970s. In response to the persistence of the drought, the degradation of the ecosystem, and the resultant economic crises, a sweeping program was put into place by the Malian government to combat desertification already in the 1980s. This has received substantial aid by UN agencies. The Malian National Program to fight desertification includes improving soil productivity, transforming the systems of production, training and organising the local population and extension agents, and coordinating the overall anti-drought strategy. It has been perceived as a model program in Sahelian Africa. - Desertification Control Day is a reminder to all that the battle against desertification needed to be integrated with the fight against hunger and poverty, FAO's Dr. El-Lakany said. "FAO's active involvement in the fight against desertification is vital not only in relation to its mandate to help countries manage forest resources, and preserve soils, water resources, vegetation and biodiversity, but also in fulfilling its mandate to promote food security, particularly of vulnerable rural populations."
Sources: Based on FAO, WRI and afrol archives
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