Africa: How Degradation and Drought Are Threatening the Land That Feeds Us

What the report says

At the UN Cop17 desertification summit in Mongolia this week, delegates are focusing on land degradation, drought resilience and soil restoration as priorities tied to food security, livelihoods and climate adaptation, according to Radio France Internationale, republished by AllAfrica. The story explains that desertification is a misleading term for the slow decline of fertile land, affecting a large share of the world’s land surface and reducing productive farmland each year.

The report centers on comments from Jean-Luc Chotte, a soil expert at France’s IRD and chair of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification. He distinguishes long-term arid conditions from drought and says damage to land is driven largely by human land use, such as intensive ploughing, monoculture, overgrazing and loss of organic matter. He also says climate change is worsening these pressures by increasing heat and disrupting rainfall patterns.

The article adds that restoring soil health is seen as essential because degraded land can reduce harvests, weaken water retention and contribute to migration pressures, especially in rural areas. It notes that countries are discussing the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, launched at Cop16 in 2024, which included a pledge of €10.3 billion over seven years for 74 vulnerable countries.

As broader context, the piece says agroecology, agroforestry, crop rotation and pastoral mobility are among approaches experts see as useful for preventing further degradation and helping restore land, including in parts of Africa such as the Sahel.