Land Degradation Control in Northern Africa

North Africa sub-region represents the entire range of aridity index. The major issues of concern in the sub-region are rainfall variability, recurrent droughts, and possible impacts of climate change. Aridity is manifested by scarcity of water resources and arable lands which represent 26.4% of the total land area with extremely varied distribution among the countries of the sub-region. Presently cultivated areas occupy 45 million ha, mostly rainfed, with 8 million ha of irrigated lands. Rangelands occupy about 13% and forest / woodland represent 8% of the total land area of the sub-region. All land use categories are subject to land degradation processes, through more than three decades, due to several pressures including; rapid population growth, climatic stresses, human mismanagement practices, and inappropriate agricultural policies. Land degradation processes are varied and diversified under the conditions of rain-fed, irrigated, range and forestlands. Land degradation processes are conducive to serious productivity losses, reduction in return from capital investment, lower income of rural households, spread of poverty and increased rural to urban migration.