This article briefly examines the threat of desertification in the Middle East and North Africa. Options available for combating desertification (improving knowledge, more land-conscious policies and governance, better water management, water-efficient cropping systems, supplementary feed sources for livestock and diversifying crops) are considered. MENA as defined here is home to over 600 million people, or about one-third of the world’s dryland population. Droughts, variable timing of rainfall, a short rainy season, extreme temperatures, cultivation on sloping lands subject to erosion, and shallow rocky soils (sometimes a result of their long history of use, causing erosion) all imply a need for careful management if the productivity of these lands is to be sustained. This brief overview mentions a few of the many options that are available for combating desertification. Rapidly growing human populations in MENA however keep raising the pressure on the land. Experiences in other parts of the world suggest that as poverty is reduced, birth rates will slow and land pressure will ease. Therefore, poverty reduction, especially through alternatives to agriculture, is important for combating desertification.The threat of climate change adds an even greater urgency to the
need to find more water-efficient, droughtresilient agricultural technologies and management practices, as well as alternative livelihoods for the peoples of this region. Rural education will better equip the poor to leave the farm,if more open and competitive economic policies create more urban job opportunities in MENA.