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Lovemore Chikova in BEIJING, China

Simple, effective and easy to implement methods must be undertaken in the fight against desertification if hopes to counter the expansion of the Sahara desert can be entertained.

While I do not want to sound like an alarmist, the truth is that the Sahara Desert is expanding southwards.

It does not matter how slow, but the arid swathe of land is expected to, eventually after some years, show itself up at the shores of some countries south of the Sahara.

Some scientists actually say the signs that the desert is moving fast downwards will begin to clearly show as early as 2025.

To think this is only nine years from now must be enough to cause trepidation.

In fact, the scientists say if the trend continues unabated, the whole of Africa will turn into a desert one day.

Sounds too far-fetched? Well, those who study the history of deserts and desertification think this is quite a possibility.

As the effects of climate change continue to hit hard due to increasing global warming, it is time for more action to combat the spread of the Sahara.

And African countries can learn a lot from how China is combating the spread of its own deserts in simple, but effective ways.

Like Africa, China’s arable land is threatened by deserts in various parts of the country.

What is more frightening is that not only are arable lands under threat from this scourge, cities, which took long to establish, also face a huge menace from the deserts.

Already, sand storms, commonly referred to as “yellow dust”, are a huge scare in China, often affecting big cities such as the capital Beijing.

What is important is that China is not sitting on its hands.

A big battle is going on in various parts of the country to combat the spread of deserts and stop continued desertification.

One of the outstanding examples of successfully fighting the spread of a desert is in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Located in the north-west part of China, officials in Ningxia have established the Baijitan Desertification Control Forest Farm, also known as the Lingwu Baijitan National Nature Reserve.

A recent visit I had to this area revealed how people in Ningxia have taken it upon themselves to push the Maowusu Desert back before it pushes them out of their habitable areas.

The project located at the edge of the desert measures 61 kilometres long from the north to west and 21km wide from east to west.

It was the realisation that if left alone, the desert would swallow up farmland and stifle the ambitions to expand industry that made authorities in this area take a step further to physically stop the desert.

An interaction with officials in Ningxia revealed that the region is very poor by Chinese standards, but there are huge development plans in the pipeline to uplift its status.

For an effective war against the desert, officials designated the arid region as the major stumbling block to their developmental ambitions.

Although the anti-desertification project has been going on for some time, it has been expanded in recent years as climate change continues to bite.

The method of controlling the expansion of the desert is simple but labour intensive.

It involves making grids out of grass (in form squares of laid grass straws wedged into the sand in which a tree is planted at the centre).

The grids increase the roughness of the surface and curtail wind force, while at the same time conserving water and increasing water content on the sand.

The effect of such grass grids is a marvel to watch as they have fixed migratory sand dunes and transformed them into oases by easily retaining water.

Scientists have applauded this simple method as a double-edged barrel to fight deserts, involving both afforestation and suppression of desertification.

Statistics show that because of the project, the moving speed of the sand dunes in Maowusu Desert has been drastically reduced.

For instance, the sediment load has declined by 53 percent, wind speed decreased by 12 percent, water evaporation reduced by 26 percent and the relative humidity of the atmosphere improved by 9,5 percent.

At the same time, the organic content of the soil increased by 199 percent, while vegetation coverage has reached 40,6 percent.

To achieve all this, the officials in Ningxia organised farmers so that they also benefit financially from carrying out the project.

The farmers are hired individually and they in turn recruit their own labour force to carry out the task at hand.

What is important is that the officials take this project seriously since it stands right in the way of their ambitious plans to fight poverty.

That determination is seen through the Deputy Director of the Administrative Bureau of National Reserve in Ningxia, Mr Wei Meng.

His comments demonstrate how difficult the work is, but at the same time shows the unity of purpose in achieving the goal at hand.

“It’s a very hard work because the hottest season in Ningxia is in July and that is when we get the straw, so it is even hard to work the sand which will be baked hot by the sun,” he said.

“Machines cannot be used to work on the sand because they cannot have enough power on the type of soil, so everything is done manually.”

The other aim of the project is to protect the Yellow River, the agricultural life line for Ningxia, which is often chocked by sand from the desert.

Before the project, a lot of sand was deposited into the river and when farmers wanted to use irrigation water they had to remove the sand many times a year.

Now they remove the sand less times, as much of it is withheld before it goes into the river.

So, what lessons can Africa draw from this desertification control project in Ningxia?

The first vital point is that if people choose to ignore the ecosystem, life will get worse and worse, especially in this era when the effects of climate change are being felt more.

Simple, effective and easy to implement methods must be undertaken in the fight against desertification if hopes to counter the expansion of the Sahara desert can be enter- tained.

There is also need for governments in the “first line of defence” against the Sahara Desert to pull their resources together for this purpose.

China, for example, has a huge financial commitment to the fight against deforestation and desertification, having spent around $33 billion since 1999.

If action is not taken now against the expansion of the Sahara Desert, the effects will be much more devastating and costly.

Agricultural and pastoral land will vanish in an instant, resulting in more financial resources needed to feed those affected and save livestock.

And the statistics are a bit scary for Africa.

At least 40 percent of the continent is already a desert and the advance rate is expected to increase as climate change deepens.

 

Read the full article on www.herald.co.zw

 

 

 

 

It is in this context that at least 11 countries – Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mauritania – have a joint programme to fight the Sahara’s expansion.

The project has been dubbed “Africa’s Green Great Wall”, ostensibly inspired by China’s own Green Great Wall Project meant to stop the expansion of the Gobi Desert.

Like in China, the project at the edge of the Sahara Desert will include the planting of drought-resistant trees.

This needs to be accelerated and examples from elsewhere need to be considered in its implementation.

The best way is to make this project a collective one, instead of leaving it to individual countries which can easily set priorities elsewhere.

There is also need to buy the allegiance of all stakeholders like farmers, pastoralists, land planners and villagers into the massive project.

Otherwise with better organisation and the application of useful experiences from elsewhere, the expansion of the Sahara can easily be halted.