Can We Win The Race Against Desertification?

Nour Hroub

What is desertification?

Desertification is a process in which more of the land is becoming desert. It isn’t becoming a major problem because the land is hot and dry, but it is becoming a problem because the soil is useless for growing crops. Desertification is most likely to happen when there isn’t much rainfall.

Already around 10 percent to 20 percent of deserts around the world have been degraded to a certain extent. According to experts, around 1 percent to 6 percent of the people living in dry lands actually live in areas that have undergone desertification. However, due to overgrazing, over cultivation and a lot deforestation, more dry land areas are under threat of desertification, which is why we need to prevent this.

How can we prevent it?

Planting trees- this reduces soil erosion, sand movement and traps soil moisture and to keep nutrient levels high in soil. We should do this because one of the main causes of desertification is unabated cutting of trees and planted. When this happens, the surface of the soil becomes dry and the top soil gets blown away by wind or washed away by floods and rainwater.
Wells- this is a very reliable source to have water supply, to water the crops when there isn’t much rainfall
Sand Traps- you can use this to ...

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How can we prevent it?

Planting trees- this reduces soil erosion, sand movement and traps soil moisture and to keep nutrient levels high in soil. We should do this because one of the main causes of desertification is unabated cutting of trees and planted. When this happens, the surface of the soil becomes dry and the top soil gets blown away by wind or washed away by floods and rainwater.
Wells- this is a very reliable source to have water supply, to water the crops when there isn’t much rainfall
Sand Traps- you can use this to prevent any sort of sand blowing into cultivated lands
Overgrazing- by stopping animals grazing lands, but this might not work as some farmers might want animals for manure, which they use on crops. Integrated smaller scale farming, which only has a few crops and some animals too help crops and this is where stopping grazing may not work. But stopping this is important because overgrazing in the same area tends to get rid of certain species of plants that are useful, while the ones that are not useful remain behind.
Water channels- you could put water channels or earth dams to collect water in the wet seasons to make crops grow and to water them
Stone walls- they slow down any surface of water that might run off and keep water in the soil longer
Wind breakers- to stop wind erosion
Better methods- Using poor irrigation methods causes moisture to evaporate from the surface of the soil allowing soil erosion. Therefore, using good irrigation practices by ensuring that the soil is moist will prevent soil erosion, which then causes desertification.

I think that sand traps are probably most reliable because sand may ruin cultivated areas, and that sand traps are the easiest way to keep sand of crops, so that is very important. Although, if there is a lot of rainfall in some areas then planting more crops is probably the best way to prevent desertification in these sorts of conditions.

I think that if people start doing all the things that I have mentioned above, then we can reverse or prevent desertification in the lands and win the race against desertification.

Teacher Reviews

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Nigel Fisher

16th of Feb 2012

This is a fairly simplistic attempt at discussing this issue. The author shows an understanding of what desertification is, and some of the possible methods for dealing with it, but many of the points which could have been considered have not been covered.

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