Introduction
The challenge of desertification and drought is among the core serious issues threatening major sustainable development in Africa, particularly the Sab-Saharan region. The problems have adversely impacted various sectors, including physical infrastructure, environment, human health, economic activity, natural resources, food security, and national and global security. Desertification is influenced by two main factors: human activities and climatic variations (Akokpari, 2012). The issue then causes land degradation that manifests itself through water scarcity, drought, soil erosion, biodiversity, loss of vegetative cover, and poverty.
Sub-Saharan Africa is among the regions that have experienced some crucial environmental issues due to desertification, such as deforestation, insect infestation, soil erosion, and wetland degradation. However, the efforts to combat the challenges have been handicapped by the failure to comprehend the actual nature and concrete solutions (Mabogunje, 1995). Conventional concepts blame the people living within the Sub-Sahara as ones irresponsible toward the protection of the environment. However, a substantial conclusion that confirms that Africans have directly damaged the quality of the environment is not present. Nonetheless, protecting the environment of the Sub-Saharan region remains an issue that needs to be analyzed carefully by incorporating overall strategies that can lead to sustainable economic development in the future.
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To effetely discuss the future of the environment in the Sab-Saharan region, it is important first to understand some major factors that have predisposed the region to the serious environmental degradation challenges it is facing currently. Knowing the contributing factors facilitates a detailed examination of the environmental issues enhanced by people living in the rural and urban areas and another suggestive comparison amongst the challenges plus those caused solely by nature. The analysis will aid in realizing the solution of the environmental protection to foster sustainable development and propose the roles that international assistance and state need to perform to save the region. The current situation provides a vital chance to redirect development techniques in a manner that will enhance the economic and social well-being of individuals in the region and improve the quality of the environment that they live.
Factors Predisposing Sub-Saharan Region to Desertification
Underlying causes of droughts in the region relate to the changing weather patterns that exist through the excessive buildup of heat on the earth's surface. The meteorological changes reduce cloud cover and reduction of rainfall that causes great evaporation rates (Akokpari, 2012). However, some of the effects of drought are directly exacerbated by human activities like poor cropping techniques, over-grazing, and deforestation, resulting in the reduction of water retention in the soil and degradation. The consequences of human activities lead to the existence of the various underlying forces of socio-economic nature, including poverty and dependency on natural resources for survival. Most economies in Sub-Saharan areas are agro-based; therefore, a more significant proportion of the desertification issue in rural regions is poverty-related agricultural methods. Practicing Inappropriate farming techniques like continual cultivation with no valuables supplements, overgrazing, improper land management policies, inadequate soil and water conservation methods, and severe incidence of indiscriminate bushfires makes the region to be exposed to the process of desertification.
Deforestation is another cause of desertification. Deforestation is practiced in the region majorly to expand agricultural land and meet energy needs. The people deplete more than 15 million hectares of tropical forests annually to provide a section for agriculture land, get place for cattle ranching, and get fuelwood for cooking and heating. The high dependence on biomass fuel in the region has increased tree felling and deforestation, thus exposing large tracts of land to desertification. For instance, the people of Ghana have destroyed almost 70 percent of trees from the savanna zones to cater to firewood and charcoal required for domestic purposes (Dodd, 1994). The factor has impacted the increase of desertification in the region, leading to high poverty levels, conflicts, climate change, improper resource tenure, and high population growth rates. Lack of alternatives has forced the poor people to continue exploiting fragile land resources for survival.
The high population growth rate also exerts pressure on the fragile and limited land resources. It is estimated that the population of the people living in the region's rural areas is 325 million. The significant population promotes the practice of overexploitation of land and deforestation, leading to degradation mainly because of the over-utilization of the limited natural resources (Kiage, 2013). For example, the increase in the human population in Nigeria from 33 million to 134 million between 1950- 2006 forced farmers to overexploit the fragile land to meet food needs. Apart from causing overexploitation of natural resources, overpopulation also increases poverty because the limited agricultural land cannot provide food for the high number of people. The effect thus causes malnutrition in children because of food deficiency. Besides, the high population also become exposed to some of the malnutrition diseases such as Kwashiorkor.
Discussion on the Future of the Environment in the Sub-Saharan African Region
From the contributing factors, it is clear that exploitation of natural resources and practicing unsustainable agriculture have promoted desertification in the Sub-Saharan regions. Therefore, it is essential to promote natural resource management and apply sustainable agriculture practices to mitigate the effects of drought and desertification in the future. The future of the economy is promising, especially with the measures initiated by the implementation of the UNCCD. Also, the countries in the region have established some national and rural-level strategies within the natural resources sector and agricultural sector, which are projected to significantly bear on the drought impacts and mitigate desertification in the future.
National Level Strategies Aiming to Enhance Environment in Future
Some national policies, plans, and strategies are projected to prevent desertification and the effects of land degradation in Sub-Saharan. The initiatives are aimed to restore degraded land through enhancing effective energy use, integrating water resource management, natural resource generation and fostering food security. First, the formulation of National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs) has enabled the countries to have a broad policy framework that promotes conservation of the environment and coordination management (Perrings & Lovett 1999). NEAPs articulates various things, including conservation policies, proper land management, sustainable utilization of natural resources, and integration of resource planning. Desertification and drought control forms a vital policy intervention. Most of the countries have started to practice the guidelines of the NEAPs. For example, the implementation of policy in Zambia enables the county to integrate environmental concerns into economic and social development, making them consistent with liberalized economies.
On a national level, several countries have also updated their legal frameworks in sector of natural resources management to help address the issues of drought and desertification. The legislation includes the formulation of sectoral laws on water, land, agriculture, forestry, and framework environmental laws. For instance, Zimbabwe updated its environmental and agricultural law to redress equity challenges and help in mitigating poverty in the country. The environmental laws reform was focused on benefiting the individual who was landless in the county. The reforms have helped in the redistribution of land and the reorganization of communal regions to minimize high population densities that had exceeded the land's capacity previously (Ichikowitz, 2020). Therefore, the continual review of the legislation will help tackle the issues of over-cultivation that have led to land degradation and increased poverty levels, especially in the marginal semi-arid areas where many people are peasant farmers.
On a national level, there are specific sector strategies and plans initiated to reduce the effects of desertification on the future. In the forest sector, almost two-thirds of Sub-Saharan countries have established and are at distinct stages of implementing National Forest Programs (NFPs) (Lewis, 2014). The NFPs act as an essential tool that provides a policy and planning framework to translate principles of sustainable forest management and domestic action. The NFPs aims to address the deforestation challenge, which is the main contributor to desertification. Adopting the new forest policies and laws will enable people to realize the importance of forest preservation and fair use of the available resources. The initiative will bring positive outcomes, especially in drylands, by enhancing the impact of tackling land degradation.
Additionally, the plans and policies on land and spatial planning have been developed to address the problem in land use planning that has been identified as the main factor that leads to land and natural resource degradation. For instance, Benin's National Spatial Planning Policy has enabled the country to coordinate spatial planning to balance economic and social development by considering the necessity of safeguarding the natural resource base and encouraging the optimal use of the available financial resources. The initiatives will be important in the future environment in the Sub-Saharan region because they will foster sustainable management of land resources to support agricultural production, protect natural resources and restore the degraded resources.
There are also agricultural sector policies, plans and strategies that countries emphasize to promote appropriate land management methods. The sector policies are aimed at redressing the challenges of resource degradation. For instance, Togo's Agricultural and Rural Growth Strategy have enabled the county to addresses natural resource degradation and the effects on agricultural productivity. Subsequently, Ethiopia's Food Security Strategy has facilitated preserving soil, water, and vegetation to help achieve food security. Various countries in Sub-Saharan regions have drafted the National Action Plans that have initiated the integration of soil fertility management.
Lastly, there are strategies that the region is developing to foster the conservation water resources and rational management in the water sector. The policies will conserve the environment in the future because they will promote the reallocation of the resource, enhance equity of access, and satisfying the basic needs of humans and the ecosystem. Water sector policies will provide an extension of water infrastructure to cover the whole Sub-Saharan region in the future (Ichikowitz, 2020). As a result, the marginal lands currently used for subsistence agriculture will be irrigated to improve the quality crops and yields, resulting in better livelihoods for small farmers and the communities. For instance, Ethiopia's Water Sector Strategy has helped the county develop a secure basis for sustainable development and preservation of water resources.
Rural Development Strategies Aiming to Enhance Environment in Future
Subsequently, there are also rural development strategies in Sub-Saharan regions established to help achieve a sustainable environment in the future. The rural strategies are initiated to address desertification through the rational exploitation and management of limited natural resources. The policies also aim at enhancing sustainable agricultural production through diversification of crops, among others. For example, the development of Algeria's Sustainable Rural Development Strategy has accorded priority to people living in rural communities to ensure that rational exploitation and development of natural resources are enhanced (Ichikowitz, 2020). Subsequently, the National Rural Development Policy in Madagascar has enhanced food security in the country by encouraging sustainable development of natural resources. The rural strategies are oriented towards increasing agricultural productivity with optimal resource utilization and reinforcing the infrastructure.
Other Programs and Projects That Will Enhance Environment in Future
the Sub-Saharan region has also developed various programs, action plans, and projects to reinforce the strategies to realize the dream of sustainable environment in the future. The programs and projects are projected to control desertification and minimize the drought impacts currently detrimental to the people. The success of the projects has started to show in some areas; for instance, the implementation of the National Fund for the Regulation of Agricultural Development in Algeria has minimized the adverse effects of hanger that were adamant in the country (Baker, 2019). The initiative has resulted in the establishment of fruit and trees plantations covering more than millions of land areas. The projects mainly target the arid and semi-arid areas to enhance the introduction of relevant irrigation technologies in the adverse zones.
Financing Sources that Aim to Reinforce the Restoration Strategies
The Sub-Saharan regions have started to introduce national budgets to enhance the provisions that can fund directly or indirectly activities solving desertification effects in the future. The funding has been channeled through sectoral budgets, especially in the agriculture and environment management sectors. Some bilateral and multilateral funding arrangements have played an essential role in financing the UNCCD and SLM-related initiatives in the region. Examples of the sectors that have started to receive funding include agricultural development, water resources management, and rural development projects. Sources of multilateral funding include the European Union (EU), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, among others (Baker, 2019). The sources are availing support for the activities to help combat desertification and provide a better environment in the future.
The Future of Economy in the Sub-Saharan Region
Considering the efforts that have been implemented at both the national and regional levels to combat desertification in the future, it is appropriate to project that the economy's economy will also rise substantially in the coming years. The following 25 years, therefore, offer real opportunities for improvement, starting with population control and water restoration. Since most people who practice rain-fed agriculture live in the marginal areas, they will directly impact. Successful management of desertification will promote their agricultural production, thus exacerbating poverty leading to economic development. There will be decreasing levels of entrenched poverty, environmental degradation, and underdevelopment in the marginalized areas. It is projected that the economy will rise since millions of hectares of productive land will be restored. The effect will lead to the creation of income in the region of an estimate of US$ 42 billion per year. With two-thirds of fragile land expected to be restored in the region, the annual Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in the region will increase with an average of more than 3 percent annually.
The desertification compartment strategies will also reduce the impacts of floods that are currently prevalent. The reduction will accelerate economic achievement in the future because of the rise in agricultural production and increase in the stock market (Adenle, Azadi & Manning, 2018). Elimination of desertification in Sub-Sahara will also eliminate the consequence of poverty and resource depletion, thus enhancing economic growth. It is estimated that poverty will fall in the coming years since most governments in various countries are currently increasing economic and agricultural production expenditure. The governmental provisions will increase the rural and urban economic development and discourage imports by improving food security.
The Effect That Enhanced Environment for Small Scale Farmers
The restoration of natural resources, environmental degradation and controlling desertification will positively impact food security for the small-scale farmers in the Sub-Saharan region. The poor households currently affected by desertification will have adequate resources leading to food security and hunger prevention that has been affecting millions of individuals. Successful protection of land from degradation will prevent the people from catastrophe repercussions such as drought and famine, which are the most severe consequence of desertification. Food security will reduce the overdependence on food aid programs that constitutes 50 percent of the annual budget of the World Food Aid Program. Restoration will also minimize the malnutrition cases that are witnesses in various parts of the Sub-Saharan regions. The initiatives will make agriculture remain a significant contributor to the economies of the regional countries. The share of GDP will progressively increase as drought and desertification decline, with food shortages decreasing at the same time.
With the success of the desertification n compartment strategies, it is expected that the climate in the Sub-Saharan region will become bearable, leading to increase water supply, thus benefiting small-scale farmers. Increased annual average rainfall would eliminate desertification in most parts of the region. Besides, the regions could see a further increase in streamflow and the ability of groundwater to recharge. The effect means that the poor people in the region will have sufficient water resources, thus enhancing their current per capita food production from irrigated agriculture (Adenle, Azadi & Manning, 2018). moreover, In the Nile region, it is projected that there will be an increase in river flow up to more than 75 percent because of the effectiveness of anti-desertification initiatives.
The impact will significantly affect the lives of small-scale farmers who depend on agriculture as a source of income because the increase in the flow of the Nile will promote regular irrigation. The impact of controlled desertification will also reduce conflict because the allocation of water negotiated during periods of higher flow would become tenable (Nugent, 2018). Lastly , the situation of women and children responsible for fetching water for the households is therefore become solved by eliminating desertification.
In light of the discussion, it is evident that the future of the Sub-Saharan region is promising. Despite the devastating effects such as poverty, unbearable climate, diseases, insect infestation, and overpopulation that people in the region face, the government in affected countries are striving to develop robust strategies that will ensure that their lives citizens are protected from the dangers of desertification. The financial aid that affected countries receive from the various multinational institutions also plays a significant role in ensuring that the initiates are sustainable. Some of the initiatives have started yielding output, and some countries such as Algeria have started to see a fall in food insecurity that was a significant issue. The agricultural economy and the lives of same-scale farmers are also going to receive a positive boost in the future, particularly with the success of the anti-desertification mechanisms underway.
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