Land Degradation, Desertization and Rehabilitation

Abstract

Chapter 3 discusses the problems of Land Degradation, Desertization and Rehabilitation, and their relationships to human total and rural populations and to livestock populations. The main points discussed are: Present and potential sustainable human populations, Evolution with time of human and livestock populations, Food production indices, GDP and economic evaluation, Desertization phenomena and their expansion, Rehabilitation efforts and potentials. It is clear that desertization is the consequence not only of droughts but also of mismanagement of the environment. Convincing evidence is provided based on, inter alia, large areas under relative protection during the great Sahel drought of the 1970–1980s, which survived ecologically unharmed through this historical dry period.