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SEPTEMBER 2008
576
John Rutter

CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION
Strictly speaking, desertification
should perhaps be defined as the
making of a desert, but there is
considerable disagreement amongst
scientists over what exactly the term
means the internet has over 100
different definitions. Confusion arises
because nobody seems sure of the
exact causes of desertification, or what
the most important causes are.
Chinese scientist Zhu, for instance,
said desertification is an
environmental degradation process
created as a result of the influence of
excessive human activities, defining
the process as an extreme form of
man-made land degradation, but
completely missing the influence of
climate change.
Scientists are reluctant to put their
necks on the line and say exactly why
desertification occurs. The situation
has not been helped by media reports
over the last 30 years that have
exaggerated the growth of the Sahara
every time there is a new drought in
Africa. The expansion and contraction

of the worlds arid areas is a situation

that has been going on for millennia,
but nowadays, with the increasing
world population, more people than
ever are at risk.
The UN has issued perhaps the
simplest definition when it says:
Desertification is the ... destruction of
the biological potential of the land
which can ultimately lead to desertlike conditions. This definition leaves
open the causes of desertification and
both human and natural processes can
be examined for their respective
contributions.

A global problem
According to the UN, desertification
puts at risk the health and well-being
of more than 1.2 billion people in
more than 100 countries. Other
countries face indirect consequences,
such as mass immigration from
desertified areas. Often its most severe
influence is seen in the damaging
droughts and famines of sub-Saharan

Africa but, as Figure 1 shows, no

populated region of the planet remains
unaffected. Desertification was a
major cause of mass migration within
1930s USA and is now affecting huge
areas of the former Russian republics
of central Asia. It has been implicated
in the shrinking of the Aral Sea and is
also severe in parts of Europe
including Portugal and Spain.
While evidence on the ground shows
that, in certain areas, the loss of
productive land is taking place on a
locally significant scale, there has
recently been a great deal of debate as
to whether or not the worldwide
problem has been exaggerated. Official
Chinese statistics, for instance, say the
countrys deserts are shrinking by
7,585 sq km each year due to the
efforts of local governments and
people, compared with an annual
expansion of 10,400 sq km at the end
of the last century. The UN has also
come under fire for putting too much
emphasis on skewed information
based on a questionnaire sent to sub-

Figure 1: Areas at risk from desertification

1
5

Key
Severe risk
Moderate risk
Slight risk

1 Ethiopia

18% at risk

2 Sudan

23% at risk

3 Chad

30% at risk

4 Niger

42% at risk

5 Somalia

26% at risk

Source: US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Division, World Soil Resources, Washington, DC

Geofile Online Nelson Thornes 2008

GeoFile Series 27 Issue 1

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NELSON THORNES PUBLISHING
Artist: David Russell Illustration

September 2008 no.576 Causes of Desertification

Figure 2: Severe rill and gully erosion

More obvious is that, over the last 50

years, across the worlds
desertification risk areas, there has
been massive population growth. In
some areas, the land has been rescued
from soil erosion by protecting trees
and conserving water, but, more often
than not, it seems human
mismanagement of marginal areas is
the primary cause of desertification.

Photolibrary/Oxford Scientific

Population and poverty

Source: http://humanities.cqu.edu.au/geography/GEOG11024/week_6.htm

Figure 3: Population statistics for the countries of the Sahel (UK provided for
comparison)
Country

Population
total (2005)

Senegal
11,658,000
Mauritania
3,069,000
Mali
13,518,000
Burkina Faso
13,228,000
Niger
13,957,000
Nigeria
131,530,000
Chad
9,749,000
Sudan
36,233,000
Eritrea
4,401,000
United Kingdom 59,668,000

Birth rate
per 1000
population
(2003)

Death rate
per 1000
population
(2003)

34
34
48
43
48
43
45
33
37
12

13
15
23
19
19
18
16
10
13
10

Population
change average
% per annum
20002005
2.4
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.6
2.5
3.0
2.2
3.7
0.3

Source: Statistics from Collins Student World Atlas 2005 and 2007

Saharan countries in 1982, when the

continent was in the grip of a series of
exceptionally dry years and famine.
It is evident, however, that parts of
many semi-arid countries remain at
risk from the threat of desertification,
even if only on a small scale, and the
reasons can be neatly separated into
climatic factors and the problems
caused by a growing world population.

Climate change
The media is obsessed with climate
change, providing, as it does, an
endless source of stories of doom and
gloom. It is unsurprising, therefore,
that desertification has also been
blamed on the world getting warmer.
In recent times, long periods of
drought in Africa have been followed
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by series of wet years but, apart from

global warming, the cause of these
climatic fluctuations which have
seen rainfall 48% lower than average
in the central savanna belt over the
past 30 years could be a general shift
in global wind patterns, or the El Nio
phenomenon.
The planet has had a variable climate
for millennia. The driest deserts, such
as the Atacama and the Namib, show
few signs of climatic change, and the
typical features of desertification such
as rills and gullies (Figure 2) were
carved into the landscape centuries
ago. The influence of climatic change
over the last few thousand years is
more obvious in the deserts of Africa,
North America and central Asia, but
even here the evidence is not from the
recent past.

The planets cultivatable land is, more

or less, a finite resource being put
under pressure by one that is less
finite the growing population. In
Mali, one of the countries of the Sahel
which forms the border between the
Sahara and the savanna lands further
south, the population increased by 3%
every year from 2000 to 2005, giving a
total increase of around two million
people in a country of 13 million.
These extra people need land and food
in a country that is already having
trouble feeding itself. The story is the
same across the Sahel (Figure 3) and
in many other LEDCs where
increasing populations put pressure on
the land, causing degradation on a
large scale. There are a number of
different ways in which this pressure
is felt:
Overcultivation: peasants farming
crops are being forced to increase
the yield from their land. Fallow
periods leaving the land bare to
regenerate and regain nutrients
are being ignored and the soil is
losing fertility. Rising populations
are forcing farmers into cropping
more marginal areas on the fringes
of the deserts. This is fine in years
of abundant rainfall but when the
rains fail the soils quickly degrade.
Overgrazing: as the number of
people has increased so has the
worldwide animal population.
Herds of cows, goats and sheep
concentrate in certain areas,
stripping the vegetation back and
exposing the soil to erosion. Great
pressure is put on cultivated areas
around the boreholes and wells
where the animals drink. The
trampling of the ground by
animals also leads to soil
compaction, destroying the
structure and leaving it open to
erosion.
Deforestation: rising populations
need wood for building and fuel,
leading to widespread destruction
of trees. Since 1900, for instance,
90% of the forest cover has been
cleared from the Ethiopian

September 2008 no.576 Causes of Desertification

highlands. Removing the trees
exposes the soil to erosion from
wind and rain. The increasing
scarcity of trees also means people
use precious animal dung for fuel,
instead of putting it on the land to
help maintain fertility.
Cash crops: during the 20th
century many countries were
encouraged to grow cash crops
food produced for export as a way
of gaining foreign exchange. The
concentration on a single crop
such as cotton or rice resulted in
widespread reduction of soil
fertility. Inappropriate farming
techniques such as flood irrigation
(drowning fields with water) led to
increasing salt content in the soils
and further degradation.
The increasing population is also
forcing more and more people, such
as the previously nomadic Rendille
in Kenya, to move off the land to live
in towns and cities. In many
countries the increased urban
population has to be supplied with
scarce fuelwood from the countryside
that surrounds it.

Physical processes
While the influence of man is,
perhaps, the overriding factor in
leaving soils open to erosion and
degradation, it is physical processes
that are responsible for the actual
erosion itself. Once the soil has been
rendered infertile and its structure has
been broken down, it is very
susceptible to the actions of both wind
(a process known as aeolian erosion)
and rain.
Strong winds blow over flat land
stripped of vegetation, picking up
the finest soil particles,
transporting them in suspension
and forming the huge dust clouds
associated with desert landscapes.
Saharan dust has been found in the
Caribbean and southeast England
(Figure 4), and the path of a single
dust storm can be up to 4000km.
Larger particles are blown by the
wind in a series of short hops or
bounces, dislodging other soil
particles as they land in a process
known as saltation.
Finally, in a strong enough wind,
the biggest particles roll or slide
along the soil surface as surface
creep (Figure 5).
Rain in semi-arid and arid lands is
concentrated in intense downpours
which land heavily on the soil,
dislodging particles and, if on a
Geofile Online Nelson Thornes 2008

Figure 4: Dust storm off the coast of Morocco

Source: NASAs Earth Observatory

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11950

hillside, forcing them further

down the slope.
Raindrops clog up the soil, filling
holes with water and dislodged
particles, reducing infiltration.
Sheet wash results as a very thin
film of water that flows over the
surface of the soil, washing away
the most valuable and nutrientrich topsoil.
Serious rain erosion may also
occur in channels in the landscape,
forming features known as rills
and gullies. These eroded channels
(Figure 2) can be very numerous,
destroying soil fertility and
making the land almost impossible
to farm.

Case study The Sahel

The classic study of desertification
comes from the Sahelian countries
where the problem was first identified
and whose plight brought the
phenomenon to worldwide attention.
The causes and effects of
desertification in the Sahel are
implicated in present-day disasters
such as the civil war in the Darfur
region of Sudan.
After a period of above-average rainfall
in the middle of the last century, the
Sahelian countries have suffered low
rainfall almost every year since 1968,
with periods of severe drought in the
early 1970s and 1980s. In between, the
production of drought-resistant foods
such as sorghum and millet had been
increasing by 1% per year.

Unfortunately at the same time

population was increasing at around
2.5% per year food production could
not keep pace. In the area bordering
the southern Sahara the carrying
capacity of the land was only 0.3
people per sq km, but the population
density was two. South of this, where
nomadic herders share the land with
settled farmers, the carrying capacity
of 15 per sq km was still substantially
lower than the actual population
density of 20. The land has become
increasingly unable to support the
number of people living on it as the
population has increased.
Meanwhile, the governments of the
Sahelian countries have also
encouraged the production of cash
crops such as cotton and peanuts, at
the expense of food crops. This,
combined with population pressure,
has forced families to expand the
cultivation of staple food crops into
marginal lands. Fallow periods in
which the land was left bare and
traditionally allowed to recover
fertility have been ignored. Trees have
been cut down to supply fuelwood and
to open up land for more crops, and
the bare ground has been left exposed
to erosion by wind and rain.
Other problems include the increase
in numbers and herds of cattle,
traditionally a sign of wealth and
standing in many countries of the
region. These cattle congregate on the
best pastures, or trample rings of
desolation around the waterholes,

September 2008 no.576 Causes of Desertification

destroying the soil structure. The
climate of the Sahel may also be
getting drier, thereby increasing the
prospect of land degradation.

Rich countries with poor

country problems?
Although desertification is often at its
most severe in LEDCs, there is no
doubt that many MEDCs also have
serious cause for concern. It is only 70
years since large numbers of poor
farmers in the American Midwest
were forced from their land in what
became known as the dustbowl years.
In a series of events similar to more
recent history in the Sahel, the need
for wheat following World War One
combined with a series of years of
above-average rainfall, led to the
cultivation of marginal land. When
drought hit the weakened soil in the
1930s, huge dust storms afflicted the
region and many were forced to seek
refuge in the expanding cities of
California.
Poor farming practices were the main
driving force behind desertification in
the USA and these are still being used
in countries such as China and
Vietnam today. Monoculture planting
of the same crop (e.g. coffee in
Vietnam) strips the land of nutrients,
while ploughing destroys the soil
structure and forms channels down
which rainwater is concentrated.
Nowadays, most MEDCs are aware of
the dangers of desertification, but that
does not mean the long-term need for
soil conservation is always upheld
when short-term profit can be made
from the land.

Case study Europes desert

Almeria, in southern Spain, is
Europes only truly arid area, with an
average annual rainfall of less than
300mm. Fifty years ago there were
large areas of irrigated farmland
growing vegetables and fruit for
subsistence use, combined with
terraced dry land growing cash crops
such as olive and carob. Working the
land was hard, however, and mass
depopulation of the countryside has
taken place since the mid1950s.
Young people were attracted to the
bright lights and easier work in the
towns and cities, and the land was
abandoned. The terraces that
protected the land from soil erosion
for centuries quickly fell into
disrepair. As walls tumbled, the short,
Geofile Online Nelson Thornes 2008

Figure 5: Processes of aeolian (wind) erosion

Suspension smallest particles

carried by the wind as dust storms

Surface creep the

largest particles
roll along the ground
in the strongest winds

Saltation larger particles

transported short distances
by the wind by bouncing
or hopping

Source: http://www.seafriends.org.nz/enviro/soil/

GeoFile Series 27 Issue 1

Fig 576_06 Mac/eps/illustrator 11 s/s
dramatic rainstorms that characterised
table.
In some areas, the underground
NELSON THORNES
PUBLISHING
the region washed away theArtist:
soil from
aquifers
are being contaminated by sea
David Russell
Illustration

the exposed hillsides.

water.

As the farmers moved out, shepherds

moved in with goats and sheep and
stripped the land of its increasingly
sparse vegetation. Over-grazing led to
removal of plants and soil compaction,
then rain splash and run-off resulted
in the loss of topsoil.

The Spanish government has taken

steps, both large and small-scale, to
combat desertification, but this
conflicts with the need for tourist cash
Benidorm itself provides 1% of the
countrys GDP.

Meanwhile, human activity has caused

the water table to drop. Large deposits
of gypsum rock an absorbent strata
that formed a huge underground store
of water have been quarried for use in
the building trade. Much of this
material has been destined for the
huge tourist resorts along the Spanish
coast. Benidorm, for instance, has
grown from its fishing village origins
40 years ago to receive four million
visitors a year. The town uses huge
amounts of water for its 30,000
swimming pools, its golf courses,
showers and other tourist facilities,
further depleting the precious water

Desertification an ongoing
problem
While many scientists now think
desertification may not be a serious
problem on a global scale, there is no
doubt that land degradation affects
many people on a local basis. Many
initiatives are now stopping the spread
of desert-like conditions but, with an
ever-increasing population and the
threat of serious climate change, it
seems likely the problem will remain
for many years to come.

Focus Questions
1 Describe the global distribution of countries at risk from
desertification with reference to slight, moderate, and severe risk.
2 What are the main causes of desertification? Discuss whether the causes
are mainly man-made or natural in origin.
3 Compare and contrast the causes of desertification in MEDCs and
LEDCs. In which type of country is the problem more severe, and why?
You should refer to specific countries in your answer.
4 What effect has the concentration on the production of cash crops in
LEDCs had on desertification?