Desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land in dry areas: soil and vegetation deteriorate, so the land becomes less productive and increasingly desert-like. Areas on the fringe of hot deserts are particularly vulnerable because limited and unreliable water supplies already make plant growth difficult.

Overgrazing and over-cultivation of drought-prone land contributed to desertification: land degradation in dry regions that reduces the land’s ability to support vegetation and farming. Drought and pressure from land use can therefore reinforce one another rather than acting separately.