Desertification and Drought Day 2024: United for Land, Our Legacy, Our Future

The future of our land faces critical challenges, with up to 40 percent of the world's land already degraded. Healthy land, crucial for providing 95 percent of our food, clothing, shelter, jobs, and protection from natural disasters, is disappearing at an alarming rate—equivalent to four football fields every second, or 100 million ha annually. The Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, covering 14.9 percent of the Earth's surface and home to nearly 420 million people, faces significant issues with arable land, fertile soils, and water resources. Only 6.8 percent of NENA's land is suitable for farming, about 0.21 ha per person, with countries like the United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Oman, and Saudi Arabia having less than 1 percent arable land, posing substantial challenges for agricultural productivity and food security.  

NENA's arid climate, extreme temperatures, and limited precipitation result in soils with low organic content and poor structure. Agricultural production in the region is dominated by rainfed systems typical of arid and semi-arid areas receiving less than 400 mm of annual precipitation. These areas cover 85 percent of the land and support around 60 percent of the population. Conversely, irrigated agriculture, which relies increasingly on groundwater, uses 85 percent of renewable water resources and is confined to 30 percent of arable land, except in Egypt. Small-scale family farming, responsible for over 80 percent of crops and livestock products, faces numerous challenges, including water scarcity, land degradation, and limited institutional support. Around 45 percent of the total agricultural area is exposed to salinity, soil nutrient depletion, and wind-water erosion. In 2012, an estimated 20 percent of the population lived on these degraded lands, found mostly in the marginal and so-called lagging areas of the MENA region.               

Addressing soil health and degradation  

Unsustainable land management practices have led to significant soil degradation in NENA. Studies on land degradation in MENA over the past two decades reveal overall land degradation of 40 percent to 70 percent. Issues such as deforestation, excessive use of agro-chemicals, frequent tillage, and overgrazing contribute to this degradation. Soil health is vital for sustainable agriculture, and degradation has far-reaching impacts on food security and human health. Therefore, promoting sustainable soil management practices is crucial to restoring soil health, enhancing agricultural productivity, and improving food security in the NENA region.  

Effective strategies include improving irrigation methods to minimize water waste and salinization, managing soil cover to prevent erosion and maintain moisture, and retaining crop residues to enrich the soil with organic matter. Optimizing crop selection and timing ensures that crops are well-suited to the climatic and soil conditions, reducing the need for chemical inputs and enhancing resilience to climate variability. Monitoring the quality of irrigation water helps prevent soil contamination and degradation. Additionally, practices such as crop rotation, agroforestry, and the use of organic fertilizers can improve soil structure and fertility, promoting long-term sustainability. Implementing these strategies requires a combination of technological innovation, farmer education, and supportive policies to create an enabling environment for sustainable land management.  

FAO's work in capacity development for sustainable soil management in the NENA region  

On this Desertification and Drought Day, we highlight the critical efforts of FAO in combating soil degradation in the NENA region. The FAO project, "Capacity Development for the Sustainable Management of Soil Resources in the NENA Region to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," is a cornerstone initiative aimed at addressing the pressing challenges of desertification, soil degradation, and drought. By aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 15 (Life on Land), FAO has implemented a comprehensive strategy to enhance soil health and agricultural productivity. This initiative has assessed and fortified the capacities of 34 soil laboratories under the Ministries of Agriculture in countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. Through tailored training sessions for 227 laboratory technicians and managers, the project has focused on key aspects like standard operating procedures, quality assurance, equipment calibration, and soil result interpretation. These efforts ensure that national experts are well-equipped to tackle soil degradation and promote sustainable soil management practices.   

Furthermore, FAO has significantly strengthened regional and inter-regional collaboration on sustainable soil management through the NENA Soil Partnership. This collaboration has been instrumental in facilitating the exchange of knowledge and strategies among beneficiary countries. The project organized several decision-making meetings, including the 6th, 7th, and 8th plenary meetings of the NENA Soil Partnership, which were crucial in developing and reviewing regional work plans and strategies for 2023-2024. These meetings, alongside participation in the 9th and 10th sessions of the Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly, have ensured that regional priorities align with global soil management frameworks. By hosting soil mapping products on the Global Soil Information System (GloSIS) discovery hub and making all project outputs freely accessible, FAO has ensured technological and economic sustainability. This initiative not only addresses immediate soil degradation but also fosters long-term resilience against desertification and drought, ensuring a sustainable future for the NENA region. 

The role of FAO and collaborative initiatives  

Sand and dust storms (SDS) significantly impact the NENA region, exacerbating environmental degradation, climate issues, health problems, agricultural decline, and socio-economic challenges. SDS has been identified as one of the most critical challenges in the region, as highlighted during COP28. 

Factors such as poor land management, desertification, and climate change have increased the frequency and intensity of these storms, threatening food security and livelihoods. Addressing SDS requires comprehensive strategies, including sustainable land and water management, disaster risk reduction, and regional cooperation. Through regional and country-specific projects, FAO enhances NENA countries' capacity to adopt climate-smart agriculture, improve early warning systems, and build resilience against SDS impacts. Through initiatives like the Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms (SDS), FAO provides technical expertise, facilitates knowledge exchange, and promotes collaborative projects aimed at enhancing land and water management practices, climate resilience, and disaster risk reduction.  
The Contingency planning process for catalysing investments and actions to enhance resilience against sand and dust storms in agriculture in the Islamic Republic of Iran report outlines a conceptual framework for assessing and mapping sand and dust storm (SDS) hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities in agriculture, specifically in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It aims to establish an actionable procedure using web-based data, remote sensing imagery, and GIS modelling to reduce SDS impacts on agriculture. The report introduces agriculture-specific indicators for SDS risk assessment and details steps for their development. It also describes the legal and institutional frameworks in Iran relevant to SDS intervention, delineates organizational responsibilities, and highlights main action areas and challenges in SDS contingency planning, with a focus on Ahvaz County. Given Iran's significant exposure to SDS due to its location in the global dust belt, and the exacerbating effects of climate change, the report emphasizes the need for integrating short-term responses with long-term development actions to build agricultural resilience against SDS. 

The Sustainable Land Management for Improved Livelihoods in Degraded Areas of Iraq project exemplifies FAO's commitment to combating desertification and drought in the NENA region. This initiative aligns with FAO's broader strategy to enhance sustainable land management (SLM) practices, which are critical for reversing land degradation and promoting resilience against climate impacts. The project, despite facing delays due to political instability and the COVID-19 pandemic, achieved substantial milestones by training 103 decision and policy makers 500 farm households on conservation agriculture and agroecology, and is currently in the process of establishing a National SLM strategy. These efforts directly contribute to FAO's objectives by enhancing policy frameworks, improving agricultural productivity on 30 000 ha of land, and engaging 60 extension officers in SLM practices. The project also hopes to create a national knowledge management platform to further ensure that best practices are disseminated, supporting FAO's goal of building resilient ecosystems and improving livelihoods across the region. 

The Enhancing the resilience of agriculture and livestock producers through improved watershed management and development of environmentally-positive value chains in South East Mauritania project, currently being facilitated by FAO, will also be discussed. This project targets the highly vulnerable rural populations in the southeastern regions of Mauritania, where climate change exacerbates existing challenges. With over 3 400 Dimitra community listener clubs (CLCs) established across sub-Saharan Africa by FAO, built on successful experiences for women and youth in Mauritania since 2012, FAO brings a wealth of grassroots engagement expertise to the initiative. Leveraging lessons learned from past APFS (Agro-Pastoral Field Schools) projects, the initiative aims to equip local communities with the knowledge and skills needed to address climate change impacts effectively. FAO's intervention is significant given the alarming trends of desertification and drought in the NENA region, where Mauritania is particularly susceptible. By promoting sustainable land management practices, such as dune fixation and the restoration of eroded banks, FAO's approach not only enhances agricultural productivity but also mitigates the adverse effects of desertification, which threatens the livelihoods of millions in the region. This project underscores FAO's commitment to empowering communities to adapt to climate change while fostering environmentally sustainable agricultural practices, essential for the long-term resilience of vulnerable populations in the NENA region.