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13-May-22

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Desertification: ‘Droughts reduced India’s GDP by up to 5% in 20 years’

Context: Recently, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) released a report titled ‘Drought in Numbers, 2022’.
Key highlights of the report

Since the start of the 21st century, the frequency and duration of drought is increasing at an alarming rate across the world.
Since 2000, there has been a 29 % increase in the frequency and duration of droughts in the world.
By 2030, or in the next eight years, drought will potentially displace an estimated 700 million people worldwide.
In 2019-2020, drought-impacted 1.4 billion people.
Droughts represent 15 percent of natural disasters and approximately 650,000 deaths between 1970-2019 were due to drought.
In 2022, more than 2.3 billion people face water stress.
By 2040, an estimated one in four children will live in areas with extreme water shortages.

Key highlights related to India

India is categorized as one of the severely drought-impacted countries.
Nearly two-thirds of the country suffered drought during 2020-2022.
As per the global drought vulnerability index, the effect of severe droughts was estimated to have reduced India’s gross domestic product by 2-5 percent over the 20 years from 1998-2017.
India’s drought-prone area has increased by 57 percent since 1997.
One-third of India’s districts have faced more than four droughts between 2010-2020.
According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, nearly 30 percent of the land underwent land degradation during 2018-19.

Key Suggestions

Sustainable and efficient agricultural management techniques that grow more food on less land and with less water.
Changes in relationships with food, fodder, and fiber, moving toward plant-based diets and reducing or stopping the consumption of animals.
Concerted policy and partnerships at all levels.
Development and implementation of integrated drought action plans.
Set up effective early-warning systems that work across boundaries.
Deployment of new technologies such as satellite monitoring and artificial intelligence to guide decisions with greater precision.
Regular monitoring and reporting to ensure continuous improvement.
Mobilize sustainable finance to improve drought resilience at the local level.

Droughtland initiative

It is a public awareness campaign launched by UNCCD.
Aim: to showcase solutions and rally global action on drought.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

It is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs.
It was established in 1994 to protect and restore land and ensure a safer, just, and more sustainable future.
It is the only legally binding framework set up to address desertification and the effects of drought.
There are 197 Parties to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the European Union.
The permanent Secretariat of the UNCCD was established during the first Conference of the parties (COP 1) held in Rome in 1997.

Desertification

It is land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, collectively known as drylands.
It results from many factors, including human activities and climatic variations.
Causes of Desertification: Overgrazing; Deforestation; Poor farming practices; Excessive use of fertilizers; Over exploitation of groundwater; Unplanned urbanization; Climate change; Soil Pollution and Mining.

Government efforts to mitigate the impact of Desertification

India has made a commitment to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
Government introduced the soil health card program to improve soil health.
This program has led to a decline of 8-10% in the use of chemical fertilizers and also raised productivity by 5-6%.

National Afforestation Programme

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is implementing this program.
The plantation species are selected by the implementing agencies/the members of the Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMC) on the basis of their needs, ecological conditions, and other local factors.

National Mission for a Green India (GIM)

It is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
It aims at protecting, restoring, and enhancing India’s forest cover and responding to Climate Change.

Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas