Drylands offer possibilities, not just problems

The future for drylands might not be as gloomy as is often portrayed. Good Practices in Drylands Management focuses on these practices, with an emphasis on Africa. It stresses that certain aspects of these zones have been wrongly assessed, overlooked or exaggerated. Desertification, for instance, cannot be solely attributed to wrong land use, such as overgrazing and expanded shifting cultivation. Deserts do expand and contract, but this is probably caused by long-term fluctuations in rainfall. Overgrazing as a problem has also been exaggerated, especially in the driest areas. It might be better to speak of fluctuating productivity in drylands, instead of productive land turning into deserts. According to the authors there are various ways to improve productivity of drylands. The main lesson of the paper is that strategies to improve dryland management must build on the skills with which dryland people allocate resources, prepare for droughts and avoid other risks. Good Practices in Drylands Management. R Øygard, T Vedeld and J Aune. Noragric World Bank co-publication. 1999. 116 pp. Free of charge The Library, Noragric PO Box 5001 1432 As, Norway Fax +47 64 94 07 60 Email: library.noragric@nlh.no

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Format:	News Item biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation 2000
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10568/46818 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99589
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