What is the cause of desertification in Africa?

What is the cause of desertification in Africa?

‘Climatic variations’ and ‘Human activities’ can be regarded as the two main causes of desertification. removal of the natural vegetation cover（by taking too much fuel wood）, agricultural activities in the vulnerable ecosystems of arid and semi-arid areas, which are thus strained beyond their capacity.

What are the 3 main causes of desertification in Africa?

Various Causes of Desertification

• Overgrazing.
• Deforestation.
• Farming Practices.
• Excessive Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides.
• Overdrafting of groundwater.
• Urbanization and Other Types of Land Development.
• Climate Change.
• Stripping the Land of Resources.

Why is desertification an issue in West Africa?

Desertification is a serious problem in the continent. It has been estimated that 319 million hectares of Africa are vulnerable to desertification hazards due to sand movement. Soil degradation caused by deforestation is also a serious threat in Africa.

What are the causes of desertification in the Middle East and North Africa?

“Desertification in the Middle East is caused mainly by four human actions linked to farming and agriculture,” Francis said. “They include overgrazing, overcultivating, deforestation and poor irrigation.

What causes desertification in Sub Saharan Africa?

In areas of low precipitation, like Sub-Saharan Africa, long droughts that turn arid land to unproductive, barren soil are a frequent cause of desertification. Soil nutrients deplete and become unproductive in areas where growers overuse and overharvest formerly arable land.

Why is Africa at risk of drought and desertification?

Inappropriate farming systems such as continuous cultivation without adding any supplements, overgrazing, poor land management practices, lack of soil and water conservation structures, and high incidence of indiscriminate bushfires lead to land degradation and aggravate the process of desertification.

Where in East Africa shows the impact of desertification?

At least 70 per cent of Ethiopia is prone to desertification. While in Kenya, around 80 per cent of the land is threatened by desertification.

Why is desertification happening in the Sahel?

But since the late 1960s, the Sahel has endured an extensive and severe drought. Desertification occurs when land surfaces are transformed by human activities, including overgrazing, deforestation, surface land mining, and poor irrigation techniques, during a natural time of drought.

What is desertification and its causes?

The United Nations’ official definition says desertification is land degradation in typically dry areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. Many things can cause desertification. Drought, overgrazing, fire, and deforestation can thin out vegetation, leaving exposed soil.

How does desertification effect the people in Africa?

Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas (urbanisation), particularly in Africa. These migrations into the cities often cause large numbers of unemployed people, who end up living in slums.

Is desertification on the increase?

Sand dunes show the increasing desertification of the Tibetan Plateau, as land dries out and vegetation cover vanishes due to human activity. Humans are driving the transformation of drylands into desert on an unprecedented scale around the world, with serious consequences. But there are solutions.

Can drought cause desertification?

It is a misconception that droughts cause desertification. Droughts are common in arid and semiarid lands. Well-managed lands can recover from drought when the rains return. Continued land abuse during droughts, however, increases land degradation.

Is the Sahel region facing desertification?

The Sahel is facing a big problem, Desertification . As the climate of Sahel was mainly dry and hot and leads to a high evaporation rate and also little rainfalls. The distribution of rainfall in the Sahel region is uneven. The rainfall in the region has been below average since 1970. The Sahel is becoming drier on the whole.