Sahel: The cost of desertification
Desertification threatens the survival of 50 million inhabitants of northern
Africa, said President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi of Mauritania on
CILSS Day, 12 September. The Permanent Inter-state Committee to Fight
Drought in the Sahel (CILSS), which has nine member countries, coordinates
scientific and technological efforts to control soil erosion and
deforestation in the Sahel region. Since the 1970s, droughts have grown more
frequent and the summer rainy season has essentially ended in some
sub-Saharan countries, at the cost of millions of lives. The president noted
that 62% of the Sahel's population lived under the poverty threshold and
that soil degradation not only caused economic insecurity and hunger, it
also provoked the migration of young people out of the region.
Contact information | n/a |
---|---|
News type | Inbrief |
File link |
http://www.sahra.arizona.edu/newswatch/ |
Source of information | SAHRA Water News Watch / La Stampa byLuca Rolandi |
Keyword(s) | desertification, drought, environmental policy |
Subject(s) | POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT , RISKS AND CLIMATOLOGY |
Relation | http://www.semide.net/topics/WaterScarcity/fol083685 |
Geographical coverage | Sahel |
News date | 24/09/2007 |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH |