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“In just over three decades from now, an estimated 4 billion people will live in drylands,” said Prof. Scholes. “By then it is likely that land degradation, together with the closely related problems of climate change, will have forced 50-700 million people to migrate. Decreasing land productivity also makes societies more vulnerable to social instability – particularly in dryland…

We are on the cusp of a new economic era: one where growth is driven by the interaction between rapid technological innovation, sustainable infrastructure investment, and increased resource productivity. This is the only growth story of the 21st century. It will result in efficient, liveable cities; low-carbon, smart and resilient infrastructure; and the restoration of degraded lands while…

The world has made tremendous progress in improving food security and nutrition. The proportion of people experiencing hunger fell from 14.7 percent to 10.6 percent between 2000 and 2015. And we’ve made progress on undernutrition, with the prevalence of child stunting dropped from 40 percent to 23 percent between 1990 and 2015. Food systems—the technical, economic, social and environmental…

As of 2017, SGP has awarded over 3,800 small grants to land degradation projects in over 120 countries, many of which are in regions with extreme levels of poverty and food insecurity across Africa and Latin America. Africa, in particular, is experiencing the highest population growth of the developing world, while being exposed and vulnerable to the rising impact from climate change. The…

Drought affects all sectors of society, from food production to public health, and there is a growing need to help communities, businesses and individuals threatened by drought to plan accordingly. At the Conference of the Parties (decision 29/COP.13), the UNCCD institutions and bodies have been requested to implement a drought initiative in the biennium 2018−2019. A key element of the initiative…

Concerted global and regional efforts to mitigate the effects of droughts and associated risks are vital. The unusually strong El Niño in 2015–2016, coupled with record-high temperatures, had a catastrophic impact on rainfall across southern and eastern Africa. It crippled countries from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe and affected as many as 36 million in the region. Namibia experienced its worst harvest…