Desertification is land degradation in drylands. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that one third of the drylands in Africa are affected by desertification at moderate or high degree and that 73 per cent of the total agriculturally used drylands are already degraded. While physical factors such as drought, desiccation and climate change can, and do, playa part, man however, is the primary agent of desertification. Man's role in causing desertification is revealed in the failure of his resource management practices.

This paper emphasises that man's exploitative land use which serves as a primum mobile for desertification is itself a short-term response to socioeconomic and other pressures. The conclusion reached is that the fight against desertification can only succeed if the welfare of the people in the affected dryland area can be put at the centre of the development agenda and those adaptive strategies of their livelihood and production systems that confer drought resistance and/or lessen their susceptibility to drought and famine bolstered.

Also, in an era of free trade and liberalisation, developed countries need to ensure that their policies help to alleviate instead of perpetuate poverty, and lead to the achievement of sustainable development and environmental protection within Africa.