• According to the UN, desertification poses a threat to a third of the planet, the environment, and the access to food.
• ALIDE participated in a conference on development of semi-arid regions, where the Decade for the Fight against Desertification was launched, and showed how development financial institutions are supporting different initiatives against this threat.

The subsistence of a third of the planet- one of every three people- is threatened by a phenomenon that is developing extremely fast, in spite of the efforts to counter it. Today, this is the presence of increasingly dry and semi-arid lands that exceed 40% of the planet surface.

The figures are alarming. According to an UN report, twelve million hectares of arable land (that would allow producing 20 million tons of grains per year, in other words, feeding six million people) are lost every year as a result of the progress of desertification and soil erosion. As if that were not enough, the incomes lost every year are estimated in US$ 42,000 million.

What is the cause for desertification? The experts agree that this phenomenon is highly related to climate change (and the resultant shortage of water), the overexploitation of farming soils, and misuse of hydric resources.

According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), by 2030, nearly half of the world's population will be living in areas of “high water stress” and it is estimated that there will be 3 billion more mouths to feed by 2050, which would seriously affect food security.

The figures have forced to place this topic as a priority in the agenda of national organizations, such as the UN, which launched the “Decade for the Fight against Desertification” during the Second International Conference on Climate Sustainability and Development in Semi-arid Regions (ICID 2010) held in Fortaleza, Brazil, where ALIDE presented some cases supported by development banking institutions for mitigating the advance of desertification in Latin America and the Caribbean.

ALIDE Secretary General, Rommel Acevedo, exemplified how the development banking has been addressing this problem, as it is closely related to poverty and climate sustainability, both subjects being widely approached by the institution.

Additionally, he proved with cases, that it is possible to rehabilitate lands, to better use water, and to significantly improve the life of its inhabitants.

During the conference held in the semi-arid region of Ceará (north east of Brazil), the experts stated that the social cost derived from desertification is extremely high, and carries with it conflicts for natural resources, massive migrations, or major social outbursts.


Desertification occurs in every continent, except for the Antarctica, but it specially affects arid and semi-arid areas. The ICID 2010 is carried out 18 years after the first ICID of 1992, which was held in Rio de Janeiro with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (Some data):

• In spite of its large extensions of tropical rainforests and farming areas, one fourth of Latin America and the Caribbean – around five million km2 – are desert-like and arid lands. This scenario is worsened by poverty and pressure on resources.
• From southern Ecuador to northern Chile, and all along Peru, there are huge deserts and arid areas together with the arid areas from the Andes range, which reaches Bolivia and Argentina as well.
• Another arid region goes from the Paraguayan Chaco to the Argentinean Patagonia. The semi-arid northeastern in Brazil occupies one million of the eight million km2 of the country, and harbors 30 million people. Most part of Mexico is arid and semi-arid.
• In the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica, there are arid areas, and several islands suffer from erosion and shortage of water.

Read the articule: Financing for the development of arid and semi-arid regions