The Molopo-Nosob area in southern Kalahari continues to experience land degradation, loss of biodiversity as well as primary productivity due to inappropriate land use practices, lack of knowledge and inappropriate policies. In order to mitigate the impacts of these land uses, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa established the Kalahari-Namib project.

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http://www.economist.com.na

Poverty and environmental degradation are major problems in dry lands, where forests and trees contribute significantly to rural livelihoods. In order to eradicate poverty in the dry lands, it is important to protect the land from deforestation, fragmentation, degradation and drought. About 228 mha (69%) of India's total geographical area (about 328 mha) is under dry lands (arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid). These areas incidentally are highly populated which makes the people vulnerable to environmental stress and impacts livelihoods directly.
 
In order to tackle the issues of desertification, land degradation and droughts, 22 major programmes are being implemented in the country, including, the “Mission for Green India”, one of the Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which will address dry land forests, in addition to other ecosystems.

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Press Information Bureau, India

These pages contain environmental data (biodiversity, human settlements, vulnerability, land, etc) presented in map format.

http://soer.deat.gov.za/30.html

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has confirmed that the UK will provide new support to the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The GEF provides grants to developing countries for projects related to issues such as biodiversity, climate change and land degradation. As an independent financial organisation uniting governments, international institutions, NGOs and the private sector, the GEF supports projects that both benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods.

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http://www.dfid.gov.uk

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) currently has an enormous opportunity to foster the integration of the cross-cutting issues surrounding sustainable land management (SLM) into the broad context of international policy processes and into sustainable development at the country level.

Climate resilience and climate change risk management; adaptation; and mitigation are the most important drivers for sustainable use of natural resources such as water, soil and vegetation worldwide.

On the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM would like to draw attention to the potential of the UNCCD as the main policy forum that brings together the themes of climate resilience food security and rural development through sustainable land management (SLM).

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http://www.global-mechanism.org

Many of us are aware of the periodic reports coming from Embassies in countries of the drylands of Africa, that draw the international attention to famine and other disasters affecting most of the countries in the region. Increasing food imports figures (food quantities or debts) as well as food aid or food for work are examples of responses. Images of starving children or old people seen on TV and increasing poverty reflect that the problem acquires human dimensions.

Studies conducted by U.N agencies, World Bank and other international organizations confirm that the declining trends of the natural ecosystems are eroding the life support systems in the drylands of Africa. 28 – 35 % of Africa’s population relies on food from abroad, and it has often happened that 15 -20 % of the African people are displaced because of food shortage and 2 % might have died when famine comes. Per capita income is correlated to per capita grain production. Is the declining trend of the per capita grain production an indicator of declining economic productivity in the drylands of Africa?

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http://www.etfrn.org

This key sheet is part of a series of awareness raising tools developed by Irish Aid to accompany its Environment Policy for Sustainable Development. Key strategies for implementing the policy are:

i) mainstreaming, where the environment is recognised as a critical part of sustainable development and is taken into account in all policies, programmes, activities and funding decisions; and
ii) partnership, where Irish Aid works with national governments, multilateral organisations, international agencies and civil society organisations to contribute to sustainable development.

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http://www.irishaid.gov.ie

The United Nations declared 2006 the "International Year of Deserts and Desertification" with the prime aim of raising the alarm and making people more aware of the dramatic reality which rarely hits the headlines, despite the mind-blowing statistics. Twenty-four billion tons of fertile soil are lost every year. Desertification affects one quarter of the Earth's surface and has already eroded two thirds of its farming land. To varying degrees, two billion people are confronted with the environmental, economic and social consequences of this silent – but not irreversible – disaster. Besides spotlighting the problem, the UN campaign revealed what action had already been taken or what still needs to be done to protect and revive the Earth's depleted soil.

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http://www.sdc.admin.ch

Over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification. In addition, some one billion people in over 100 countries are at risk. These people include many of the world's poorest, most marginalized, and politically weak citizens. Hence combating desertification is an urgent priority in global efforts to ensure food security and the livelihoods of millions of people who inhabit the drylands of the world.

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http://www.wamis.org

Soil erosion and land degradation have become major environmental concerns and present a formidable threat to food security and sustainability of agricultural production in Kenya. The biggest challenge currently facing the Kenyan government is how to achieve the triple developmental goals of food sufficiency, better nutrition and poverty reduction without increasing the land devoted to food crops.
This paper responds to a paucity of empirical information on the impact of land degradation on farm productivity and poverty in Kenya. The paper builds on the few existing studies in this area and explores the impact of conventional inputs and adoption of soil conservation practices on farm yields per acre controlling for the effects of institutional factors.

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http://www.world-food.net