Combating Desertification in Kenya - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 139

Phase III: Implementation, Follow-ups and Evaluation. This phase marks the
beginning of full implementation of the national and local area action programs,
which like the CAPs should be fairly flexible and iterative to allow for as many
revisions as lessons and experiences are gained.
However, it should be recognized that the implementation of the CCD is going
to be complex and a long-term process. This is because combating desertification
is about sustainable development in the drylands, and therefore is a complex
interaction between economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental issues,
which vary from one area to another.
It should also be appreciated that desertification and land degradation is caused
by various natural and human actions in combination with gradual and mostly
insidious effects and sometimes with immeasurable weights such as climatic effects,
poverty, inappropriate land, use over cultivation, overgrazing due to overstocking,
and de-vegetation for construction timber and energy.
Strategies to combat desertification are faced with many challenges, which
include lack of general education and awareness with perceptions varying widely
among stakeholders, climatic constraints, limited expertise in various fields, limited
financial resources and mechanisms, poverty which is acute in most affected areas
and inappropriate and/or inadequate policies and coordination mechanisms.
Effective prevention of desertification requires both local management and macro
policy approaches that promote sustainability of ecosystem services. It is advisable
to focus on prevention, because attempts to rehabilitate desertified areas are costly
and tend to deliver limited results. The creation of a “culture of prevention” can
go a long way toward protecting drylands from the onset of desertification or its
continuation. The culture of prevention requires a change in governments' and
peoples' attitudes through improved incentives. Young people can play a key role
in this process. Evidence from a growing body of case studies demonstrates that
dryland populations, building on long-term experience and active innovation, can
stay ahead of desertification by improving agricultural practices and enhancing
pastoral mobility in a sustainable way. For example, in many areas of the Sahel
region, land users are achieving higher productivity by capitalizing on improved
organization of labor, more extensive soil and water conservation, increased use of
mineral fertilizer and manure, and new market opportunities.
Major policy interventions and management approaches are needed to prevent
and reverse desertification. Assessment of future scenarios shows that major
interventions and shifts in ecosystem management will be needed to overcome chal-
lenges related to desertification. As recognized by the UNCCD, such interventions
are to be implemented locally, with the active engagement of stakeholders and local
communities, with improved information generation and access.
Integrated land and water management are key methods of desertification pre-
vention. All measures that protect soils from erosion, salinization, and other forms
of soil degradation effectively prevent desertification. Sustainable land use can
address human activities such as overgrazing, overexploitation of plants, trampling
of soils, and unsustainable irrigation practices that exacerbate dryland vulnerability.