Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 1 IMPACTS OF DESERTIFICATION ON AGRICULTURE

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Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 2

INTRODUCTION Desertification can be described as the process by which productive land is turned into non-productive land as a result of pitiable land management practices .It mainly occurs in arid and semi arid areas and its major cause is deforestation combined with overgrazing. Consequently the rapidly growing population and advance in poverty levels may contribute to desertification as people are obliged to use their environment excessively without the ability to foresee the long term impacts for their actions. Where people take livestock as a sign of prestige and social class people may be hesitant to reduce their livestock numbers leading to overstocking. The ability of land to support life is thus the final consequence of desertification and therefore agricultural crops as well as wild and domestic animals are adversely affected. Depletion of vegetation cover leads to accelerated soil erosion as soil drops hit and

displace the soil from its original position ,sheet erosion may then follow and worsen the situation. As result water is lost off the land instead of infuse into the sol to replenish the lost moisture. This means that even those plants that would have survived in the presence of very little sol moisture die .Further results include a reduction in the soil nutrients and humus and therefore crop production as well as soil cover declines further. As

vegetation cover disappears the effects of flood becomes more rigorous and the soil is deprived of its nutrients. According to Sheikh and Soomro (2006), desertification process is self igniting and this means that once the process has started conditions are

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 3 automatically set to favor the continual of the process. In this paper I am going to discuss on the factors contributing to desertification as well as the impacts of desertification on agriculture and finalize on the way forward to combating desertification.

CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION Desertification is caused by such factors as deforestation, far-reaching cultivation, overgrazing and industrialization while overlooking environmental concerns. The following are the factors causing desertification at large; (a) Drought Drought which is associated with inadequate rainfall or succession of sub-average precipitation seasons is considered to be one of the causes of desertification. Deserts tend to encroach into those areas that receive rainfall below the anticipated averages since vegetation cover cannot grow in those areas. Due to this wind erosion is dominant and the soil is carried away to places far away so that the remaining land is deprived of its nutrients. This means that unless artificial means of replenishing the soil cover are put into effect the part of land becomes unproductive (Sheikh and Soomro, 2006). (b) Deforestation Cutting down of trees during charcoal burning in rain fed areas can contribute to desertification if the trend is not combated .Deforestation does not take place only because people are cutting down trees for fuel. Besides this people cut trees in search of new grounds to settle as well as to cultivate due to increasing population posing pressure

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 4 to the existing resources. Olsson (2003) points out that this absence of forests leads to extensive wind erosion and the climate is deteriorated since rainfall becomes more stressed and precipitation reduces. (c) Overgrazing Nomadic herdsmen have a tendency of creating an imbalance between the number of livestock they raise and the carrying capacity of the grazing land. This imbalance is such that the number of livestock is greater than the grazing land can hold. This means that land cover will be rapidly depleted without replenishment if padlocking is not done .In addition to depleting the land of its vegetation cover overgrazing also leads to diminishing quality of range lands (Graham and Walter, 2001). (d) Industrialization Industrialization is the process of setting up industries and it is during this process that environmental safeguard measures are ignored. Long stretches of land adjacent to the industries are strip off their vegetation cover making the land most attractive to desertification. On the other hand urbanization is intruding into agricultural land causing loss f agricultural land and natural resources. (e) Climate change Climatic variability and change is contributing to drought which is most associated with desertification. Dry spells are rapidly becoming too extensive depriving the soil f moisture and vegetation cover thus contributing to soil erosion. Land forms, vegetation cover and soils are getting transformed due to unpredictable climate which is adversely affecting the environment. Rainfall is becoming more scarce and sporadic even in those areas it is anticipated to fall sufficiently.

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 5 IMPACTS OF DESERTIFICATION ON AGRICULTURE (a) Soil degradation and lose of fertility As the productivity of soil is decreased by desertification and this becomes a threat to food security since the land becomes less productive or in the severe cases of aridity it becomes completely unproductive agriculture wise. This means that the price of food commodities that are derived from farming has to double bringing about the risk of human hunger .As Borowiec (2003) notes ,this declining productivity is usually followed by a growth in human population an indication that at one point people will have to starve due to lack of food. In areas where soil nutrients and humus has been deprived off through human activities, boosting is required in form of fertilizers .There is also a need to control pests and diseases so as to, protect the crops .Some of this synthetic chemicals intoxicate the soil and lead to a further land degradation instead of improving it. It is due to this that the governments in the sub-Saharan countries are seeking for loans from international monetary fund and the World Bank in an attempt to create food reserves for its citizens Damage to the top soil has been shown to occur in those places where heavy down pours of rainfall occur (Broch-Due and Schroeder, 2001) .This has led to the transportation of soil inform of silt to the lakes through rivers, as a result those people who depend on lake or reservoir water for irrigation are forced to use highly expensive technologies like mechanical dredging to de-silt such lakes when extracting water for irrigation (Desertification, drought, poverty, and agriculture, 2002)

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 6 (b) Risk to livestock herding sector Due to land degradation less food is available to the livestock meaning that they will have to start dying reducing in number. The declining quality of range lands brought about by desertification avails less pasture for the livestock. This means that even if they their lives will not come to demise, their productivity will decrease and there will no be enough resources such as meat and milk to cater for the needs f the growing population. This declining number of livestock does not only affect the farmers but also the economy of the country as a whole. (c) Lowering agricultural contribution to economic growth. The tattered economy of those sub Saharan countries affected by desertification is further shrinking due to decreased agricultural activities which contribute to growth in the GDP.For example in 1973 Chad experienced a negative economic growth of 9% due to the effects of desertification on agriculture. This means that declining agricultural activities contribute to a decline in the national economic growth.

(d) Lose of soil nutrients Desertification denotes that there is no land cover and therefore the soil is prone to erosion. Little rainfall therefore leads to flooding since water cannot infiltrate into the soil, the flooding waters carry away the top sol together with its nutrients. This means that soil nutrients have to be replenished if productivity is to be regained. In most cases the poor farmers neglect the soil since they cannot afford fertilizers and the soils are left in unproductive condition.

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 7 (e).Food insecurity Drought and poor land management causes famine. This means that incidents such as overgrazing and deforestation deprive land its vegetation cover and causes water catchment areas to dry. This means that even the lakes which owe their survival to streams and rivers will dry up affected biodiversity negatively. Desertification has led to loss in indigenous crop species that were initially supported by productive soils. As a result people have reverted to grow commercial trees that utilize a lot of water from the soil .The result is that the ground water resources are being deprived of their capacity o store water and the land is further drying up, this has been worse since the commercial tree species have also started to dry up (John,2004). Sporadic rainfall that has been induced by human activities has caused frequent droughts further leading to failure of crops and damage to the whole agricultural sector. Places that used to receive high amounts of rainfall no longer receive them and due to this their crops are failing. The long rain seasons have been reduced extensively and rainfall is being realized for a very short duration of time. The moisture replenished by such rains is not sufficient to cater for the needs of the crops as a result people are turning to irrigated agriculture though they lack water for the practice. (f) Neglecting of agriculture at the expense of mining Farmers have also shifted from agricultural activities and utilized the land for heavy mining and quarrying. Such productive vast lands are destroyed for good by such economic activities as potholes and depressions are created during mining. This means that if the tracks of land are to be converted back for agricultural use, then a lot of resources in terms of monetary values has to be employed in the process.

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 8 Due to desertification farmers are migrating to areas where reliable rainfall is receive or even to urban areas in search of better jobs. Agriculture has been rendered non productive by desertification and therefore people are leaving big tracks of land idle and rush to the urban centers in search of white collar jobs. The result is that the problem of food shortage worsens and people start suffering from nutritious related diseases which pose a risk to the economic growth of the country.

(g) Decreased number of livestock Commercial livestock rearing has also been adversely affected by desertification. Clearing of forests and overgrazing has led to the loss of grasslands and range lands so that the livestock is succumbing to the effects of drought .In the recent past a lot of cattle has died of hunger and starvation but this is worsened by the lack of drinking water. Rivers are drying up due to the declining stratus of the catchment areas and this has led to the farmers to seek for an alternative in the ground water. However these farmers do not have a know how on how to utilize this water leading to excessive pumping of such waters. The result is lowering of water table making the process of tapping ground water even more complex. The ministry of agriculture in the affected countries is undergoing a lot of challenges in searching funds to support irrigation of land for the purpose of increasing productivity. This challenge is further worsened by the fact that the areas to be irrigated are devoid of nutrients and therefore a need to supply them artificially a condition that is slowing down the reclamation phase of the agricultural land (Belshaw and Livingstone, 2002). At the same time those people in arid areas have been forced to keep the local cattle and

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 9 specifically the zebu type that is of local quality and less productive. This has led to a shoot up in the price of commodities such as milk and meat making them unaffordable to the common citizen. COMBATING DESERTIFICATION Desertification is an ogre that has to be fought with determination if it has to be brought to an end (Wilkening, 2006). The best way to combat desertification is to rehabilitate the degraded dry lands though this solution requires technical advancements and current approaches in order to reverse the degraded land. There is also another challenge since the process requires approval by the relevant ministry since some practices are founded on the policy issues of the government and are tied by the constitution. Researchers in climatology, meteorology, and hydrology and soil science would also play a very important role in this reclamation process. Stake holders from multi disciplinary teams are required to work hand in hand with the communities as this would help transfer technical know how to the local citizens thus impacting them positively. A holistic approach is required in the reversal trends towards land reclamation and should focus on three mechanisms (Chihuahuan Desert, n.d). In the first place technological advancements should be geared towards addressing the problems of water, land and food insecurity. Secondly is the inclusion of the local community in the reformation with an aim of increasing their technological know how and inter organizational skills (Belshaw, and Livingstone, 2002); and finally is the provision of the appropriate monetary resources at the level of policy formulation and implementation as well as institutional level to teach land users on how to adopt more conservative technologies in order to protect the environment.

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 10

CONCLUSION In conclusion some core programs such as environmental conservation through a forestation campaign cal lead to the conservation of flora and fauna. Experts have argued that only a 15% forest cover is needed in order to sustain life, ensure ground water, clean air and soil fertility and to preserve the natural beauty. Next there is a need to offer civic education on environmental protection as this would enhance the concern of the civil society .It would father contribute to the establishment of support projects to raise public awareness on the need to protect and conserve the environment. Training workshops are also paramount in addressing the desertification problem in a more systematic approach. According to Strait(2001) these training forums would ensure that all stake holders

together with unskilled members of the community get an excellent training concerning how to protect the environment. There is also a need to emphasize on the use of alternative source of energy such s clean energy in order to cub the problem of deforestation. This should be followed by a tree planting campaign as this would help to re reclaim the wasted ranges. If all these approaches are followed then the ecosystem would be green and precipitation would fall as before. References Belshaw, D., & Livingstone, I (2002); Renewing Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policy, Performance, and Prospects Routledge. Borowiec, A. (2003); Taming the Sahara: Tunisia Shows a Way While Others Falter: Praeger.

Running head: Impacts of desertification on agriculture 11 Broch-Due, V., & Schroeder, R.A. (2001); Producing Nature and Poverty in Africa: Nordic Africa Institute Chihuahuan Desert (n.d): Plant Communities, Granivores and Granivory; the American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 144 Desertification, drought, poverty, and agriculture (2002): retrieved from http://www.cgiar.org/pdf/desertification.pdf on 15th, November, 2011 Graham, I. H., & Walter, G. W. (2001): Impact of Grazing and Desertification. John, W., & John B.T.(2004):Environmental Issues in the Mediterranean: Processes and Perspectives from the Past and Present: Routledge. Olsson, L. (2003); Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? The Geographical Review, Vol. 93. Sheikh, B.A., & Soomro, G.H (2006): Desertification: causes, consequences and remedies Strait, G. C. (2001): Facing Desertification: World and I, Vol. 15.

Wilkening, K (2006); Dragon Dust: Atmospheric Science and Cooperation on Desertification in the Asia and Pacific Region: Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol. 6.