One out of every three people on earth is in some way affected by land degradation. Latest

estimates indicate that nearly 2 billion ha of land worldwide – an area twice the size of China

– are already seriously degraded, some irreversibly. This includes large areas of cropland,

grassland, woodland and forest areas whose degradation reduces productivity, disrupts vital

ecosystem functions, negatively affects biodiversity and water resources, and increases

vulnerability to climate change.

The Occasional Paper Series published by the FAO Investment Centre covers technical briefs, research treatises and particularly useful case studies.

Meeting Name: African Forestry Commission
Meeting symbol/code: FO-AFC/69/REP.
Session: Sess. 2

Research in the various agricultural experiment stations in Ethiopia has convincingly shown that the wheat variety is in many respects inferior to imported varieties (lower yield, weaker stems, more susceptible to rust, short stalks, small heads etc.) and required to be replaced for upgraded.

A la cinquième réunion Conférence régionale de la FAO pour l'Afrique, tenue à Kampala, Ouganda, en novembre 1968, la FAO a présenté un document intitulé "Institutions rurales: développement intégré en vue d'assurer à l'agriculture l'appui des services officiels." Ce document a suscité un intérêt considérable et donné lieu à de nombreux échanges de vue entre les délégués.

Ce rapport parle à propos des propositions relatives à la planification agricole interrégional en Afrique.

Planificateur et ministres ont la délicate d'établir un ordre de priorités en comparant l’importance respective des objectifs et établissent entre eux un équilibre.

Another basic feature of agricultural planning is the Organization of an agricultural statistical service with the help of the local authorities. Thus it is necessary to organize not only the collection of statistical data regarding crops, but also to make periodical inventories of the types of soil available, the crops for which they can be used, of water and meteorological data, of data on products, income, employment, coefficients of capital, labour productivity, price indices, income and price elasticities of demand, costs, internal and external markets.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment projects that the intensification of freshwater scarcity in combination with continuous water extraction from delicate dryland ecosystems is likely to exacerbate desertification, thus leading to a downward spiral of ecological deterioration and a precarious depreciation of livelihoods in many developing regions. This in turn can push people to migrate, which can have far reaching implications affecting local, regional, and even global political and economic stability.

Desertification is nowhere more serious than in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), stretching from Pakistan in the east to Morocco in the west, and from Ethiopia and Sudan in the south to Turkey in the north. Yet, many MENA countries have successfully rehabilitated large areas. Concerted efforts can indeed stop and even reverse desertification, though their long-term success will depend on how well they manage their limited water resources.

Hardest hit by desertification is Sub-Saharan Africa, where poverty is more widespread, preparedness for catastrophe is lower, and means for adequately coping with the phenomenon are very weak; two thirds of the arable land will be lost by 2025.The subcontinent needs improved integrated initiatives on local, national und multinational level for a sustainable natural resources management. Environmental Information systems can increase awareness and throw light on decision making processes on the complexity of desertification badly needed by most African countries.

Despite ambitious desertification control programmes, the area of desertified land has expanded continuously since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, with increasingly serious impacts on important industrial and settlement areas. Only in the new millennium is a reversal of this trend in sight.