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2006 designated International Year of Deserts and Desertification
2006-01-15 08:03:28
By Angel Navuri
Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET) has launched a campaign to raise awareness on desertification that is brought about by human activities including traditional methods of livestock keeping and poor farming methods.
Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam on Friday on the International Year of Deserts and Desertification JET Chairman Deodatus Mfugale said over one billion people are at risk as food and water supplies became threatened.
He said Africa desertification was strongly linked to poverty, migration and food security, adding that in many African countries combating desertification and promoting development were virtually one and the same due to the social and economic importance of the natural recourses and agriculture.
’’Another effect of the problem is exhibited by the migration of Maasai and Sukuma livestock keepers who move into Morogoro, Mbeya, Iringa and Coast regions in search of pastures after land in their areas has been degraded and failed to support their livestock,’’ Mfugale said.
The UN has designated this year as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification mainly because the problem has became a world concern.
’’Twelve years after the 1992 Rio Conference desertification is a process not many people understand.
Hence the UN Assembly declared 2006 international year of Deserts and Desertification to raise the alarm on the problem and make people more aware of its impacts,’’ Mfugale added.
About one billion hectares in Africa, an equivalent of 73 percent of its dry lands, are severely affected by desertification, in terms of costs Africa loses some 90 billion US dollars a year, according to UNEP.
In Tanzania desertification is a problem that has become a national concern the effects of the process are evident in the arid and semi arid regions of Shinyanga, Singida, Dodoma. Manyara, Tabora and some parts of Morogoro region, in total 40 percent of these regions is threatened.
Mfugale concluded that some of these regions have already started facing acute food shortage, forcing the government to distribute food aid.
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