The process by which fertile land becomes desert, often from overuse.
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Desertification is the process by which fertile land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions becomes desert, losing biological productivity and vegetation cover. It is driven by a combination of climate variability—especially drought—and human activities including overgrazing, deforestation, unsustainable irrigation, and overcultivation. The term gained prominence during the Sahel droughts of the 1960s and 1970s, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was adopted in 1994. Desertification affects roughly one-third of the Earth's land surface and threatens the livelihoods of millions, particularly in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Consequences include soil erosion, salinisation, loss of biodiversity, reduced food production, and migration. Countermeasures include terracing, windbreaks, agroforestry, rotational grazing, water harvesting, and the Great Green Wall initiative in the Sahel. Restoration efforts aim to recover degraded land, sequester carbon, and support sustainable rural livelihoods.
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