With the start of the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the World Food Programme is making available to the media, experts on resilience and food systems who can comment on the linkages between desertification and hunger, as well as on large scale solutions and greening the Sahel.
Desertification – both a consequence and a major contributor to climate change – is one of the most insidious and unnoticed threats to food security, nutrition, and sustainable food systems. Once a tipping point is reached, it undermines the resilience of ecosystems and populations, plunges the world’s poorest and most vulnerable into destitution, and exacerbates their daily struggle for survival.
According to the new Global Report on Food Crises, 2021 saw a 25% jump in the number of people facing food crises in just 12 months. Conflict, economic crises, and climate change were the primary drivers of hunger in 2021 with extreme climatic events driving more than 23 million people into food crises. The alarming number of people facing hunger makes it more urgent than ever to tackle the root causes of food crises.
That is why WFP is implementing programs like the Sahel Resilience Scale-up. In just three years, WFP supported communities across the G5-Sahel in rehabilitating around 110,000 hectares of barren land, benefiting over 2.5 million beneficiaries in more than 2,000 villages.