Desertification means the process of fertile land turning into a desert due to various reasons like climate change, deforestation, or overgrazing. It leads to the loss of plants, animals, and the ability to grow crops. Full definition
Environmental degradation, resulting in desertification of once productive sub-Saharan Africa, has created millions of «environmental refugees» in the decade of the 1980s alone. (religion-online.org)
By the end of the 13th meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Ordos, China, 113 countries had agreed to specify concrete targets with clear indicators, to rehabilitate more land and reverse degradation, which currently affects over a third of the world's land resources. (www2.unccd.int)
In the Sub-Sahara countries, the Desert is moving southwards at an annual rate of 0.6 km., putting 35 million people at risk from the effects of desertification in northern Nigeria alone. (greenplanet.com)