Desertification is the result of both climatic and human pressures on the land. It is the spread of desert-like conditions caused by climate change and human impact, and is considered one of the forms of land degradation, particularly affecting arid, dry, and semi-humid areas.

Over the past four decades, desertification has spread rapidly across the Arab world—especially in Iraq—forcing many farmers and their families to abandon their homes in search of better land to live on.

Causes of desertification

We mentioned that desertification is a degradation in land productivity, so we will outline the causes of this degradation as follows:

• A natural decline in vegetation cover due to drought, or due to human activities.
• Severe climatic changes such as global warming and irregular rainfall—whether excessive or lacking.
• Population increase, which leads to overgrazing and deforestation.
• Intensive agriculture, which results in the excessive use of pesticides and the depletion of the soil’s nutrients.