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UNCCD
Regional briefing on rural development
-----------------------
Links between desertification, climate
change, shortage of land and impacts on
food security
------------------Boubacar Cisse, UCR-Africa, Tunis
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, November 1 2010
UNCCD
Desertification: what is it?
• “Desertification means the degradation of
land in the arid, semi-arid and dry underwatered zones caused by a range of factors
including climatic variations and human
activities” (See Art 1 UNCCD)
• Land degradation = “reduction or
disappearance of biological or economic
productivity which the land cannot recover by
itself without help.”
UNCCD
Current situation
– 1.9 billion ha have been degraded
since 1950 globally.
– Loss of soil fertility
Degradation and improvement of land at
world level
1981 – 2006 -
UNCCD
Cf. GLADA Report, ISRIC 2008
Improvement of the land has been identified on around 16% of cultivable
land worldwide, mainly in the arid zones. But this is fragile because of
climate change.
Degradation of land and greenhouse gas U N C C D
emissions
The degradation of the land contributes to the process of
climate change: agriculture and a variety of land uses
contribute more than 1/3 of the world GG emissions.
UNCCD
Changes in agricultural productivity by 2080 due to climate change
Source “Environmental Food Crisis” UNEP - 2009
UNCCD
Food security: a challenge for the
international community
The world food system under pressure:
“A 50% increase in food production
is needed by 2030” – FAO
But
-world cereal production in 2008: 380
kg/pers. i.e. 1kg/day
-food production is growing faster
than the population
400
300
Food
200
100
Population
0
1961
1984
Source UNCCD from World Bank
2007
Food security: a challenge for the
international community
UNCCD
=> Theoretical satisfaction of world food needs today and
tomorrow
Yet hunger is already affecting
1 billion people and more than 25,000 die every day of
hunger or its consequences.
Food security: a challenge for the
international community
The world food system under pressure
Limits to production:
– Unfair competition between producers from
the North and the South
– The area of cultivable land available to feed an
inhabitant diminishes every year.
1961
2007
World
0,37
0,21
-42%
PMA
0,45
0,20
-56%
ASS
0,59
0,25
-58%
In ha/pers – Source : World Bank
UNCCD
UNCCD
Food security: the land degradation challenge
Because of desertification and droughts 12 million
hectares are lost per year, which is the resource
needed to produce 20 million tonnes of cereals
(UNEP, 2007)
UNCCD
Summing up: facts and figures…
• 2.6 billion people depend directly on agriculture.
• 52% of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by
land degradation.
• 4 to 6 million ha of cultivated land (i.e. the area of Switzerland or Togo)
are lost each year because of human-caused land degradation.
• Land degradation threatens biodiversity
• Climate change: agriculture and a variety of land uses are responsible for
over 1/3 of world GG emissions
• The arid zones comprise 41% of the land surface of the earth (and we can
expect that to grow) and are home to 1/3 of the world population.
• The GDP of the arid zones is 50% lower than the non-arid zones.
• Today, 2.8 billion people are in a serious water stress situation.
The ten-year strategy
and political framework of the UNCCD
4
UNCCD
To mobilise the necessary resources through effective
partnerships between all players
Sustainable Land Management and land
rehabilitation must be undertaken at grass
roots level.
All partners must take charge of the shift
needed for effective implementation.
To generate world-level
benefits
3
2
To improve the state of the affected ecosystems
1
To improve the living conditions of the affected
populations
UNCCD
The UNCCD “2+9” impact indicators
Mandatory
1.
2.
Optional
Proportion of the
population in the
affected zone
living below the
poverty threshold
1.
State of plant
cover
4.
2.
3.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Availability of water per inhabitant in the affected
zones
Change in land use
Child malnutrition and/or food
consumption/calorific input per inhabitant in the
affected zones
Human Development Index (HDI)
Level of land degradation (including salt pollution,
wind erosion and soil erosion, etc.)
Plant and animal biodiversity
Aridity index
Surface and sub-soil carbon storage
Proportion of the land managed in a sustainable
fashion
UNCCD
UNCCD
Thank you