Desertification Case Study

1) Desertification occurs when fertile ground becomes a desert and dries out. It is usually caused by deforestation and droughts.

2) Botswana lies right across the Tropic of Capricorn and the majority of the land surface in Botswana is made up of a desert. This doesn't hold surface water for long periods of time which led to an over reliance on underground water. The Kalahari Desert occupies just over two thirds of the country's land mass. With the affect of droughts in the country, it is really hard for the water to stay on the land. Also, because its really flat it can't flow very well through the country, it absorbs into the ground really fast.

3) The desertification problems in Botswana mostly come from the severe times of drought. The drought caused 75% of the country’s human and animal populations to be dependent on groundwater which has eased the effects of the drought, but has left a greater impact on the land. Groundwater is obtained by drilling deep holes, which causes erosion of the land. Surface water is very rare in Botswana and a miniscule amount of the agriculture in the country is sustained by rainfall. Due to this, about 95% of the country raises cattle and livestock as a means for an income. Therefore only 71% of the country’s land is used for communal grazing, which has been a major cause for the desertification of the country. Factors such as deforestation, overgrazing, poor cropping methods and improper soil conservation techniques also made a big mark on the country's desertification.

4) The government has made new policies to the land use in Botswana. There are several programmes such as the, the Tribal Grazing Lands Policy, the Arable Lands Development Programme and the Remote Area Resettlement Scheme. They have also adopted the principle of bottom up approach in tackling desertification that is emphasized by the UNCCD, because people at grassroots level deal directly with impacts ofland degradation on daily basis. Botswana developed National Action Programme to Combat Desertification as required by the UNCCD. These are some of the many projects on going to help the desertification in Botswana, they are aimed to achieve and help soil conservation, livestock production, rangelands and wildlife management, water and land management. Some of their goals are to keep it as cheap as possible and introduce ecologically sound to make it ethical.