Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. This spread of arid areas is caused by a variety of factors, such as overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity and the effects of climate change. Geographic areas most affected are located in Africa, Asia and parts of South America. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth's land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. Effects of desertification include sand and dust storms, food insecurity, and poverty.
Goats inside of a pen in Norte Chico, Chile. Overgrazing of drylands by poorly managed traditional herding is one of the primary causes of desertification.
Wildebeest in Masai Mara during the Great Migration. Overgrazing is not necessarily caused by nomadic grazers in large travelling herd populations.
A shepherd guiding his sheep through the high desert outside Marrakech, Morocco
View of Sydney Harbour Bridge covered in dust
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment also known as biochemical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.
It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires.
Serious land degradation in Nauru after the depletion of the phosphate cover through mining
Potato field with soil erosion
Overgrazing by livestock can lead to land degradation
Soil erosion in a wheat field near Pullman, US