Desertification: Myths and Realities

INTRODUCTION Since the advent of the Sahelian drought in early ‘70s, an intense debate over the desertification phenomenon has been raging . The debate has generated some new knowledge, raised interest in, and stimulated commitment to, controlling the phenomenon. But it has also generated some myths, to the extent that some have begun to question the existence of desertification. The issues around which certain myths have been built, and which tend to detract attention from the pressing realities of combatting it and alleviating its effects, include: