• Land degradation is caused by multiple forces, including extreme weather conditions, particularly drought.
• It is also caused by human activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility.
• It negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services.
• Desertification is a form of land degradation by which fertile land becomes desert.

Impacts of desertification 

• Higher threats of malnutrition from reduced food and water supplies;
• More water- and food-borne diseases that result from poor hygiene and a lack of clean water;
• Respiratory diseases caused by atmospheric dust from wind erosion and other air pollutants;
• The spread of infectious diseases as populations migrate.