Assessing Desertification in the Middle East and North Africa: Policy Implications

When new deserts are forming in some areas of the world (UNEP 1984) this process is referred to as “desertification”. While for most people the term refers to a picture of inexorably shifting sands encroaching on valuable farmland (Forse 1989), an increasing number of scientists are now arguing that the image associated with “desertification” is a mirage (Mainguet ch. 36). Researchers in different disciplines have defined desertification. Whereas some researchers consider desertification to be a great danger to the sustainable development of arid and semi-arid areas, others doubt that the phenomenon occurs at all. These different opinions on desertification are mainly due to the lack of an overall concept, the dearth of information available at the global and regional levels and the different objectives and interests of the countries in the north and south.