The politics of reclaiming deserts

• The amount of land is diminishing partly due to subdivisions and to the expansion of deserts. As “leaders” continue creating confusion with platitudes and little delivery, politics is a factor in tackling the challenges.
• There are two examples of effort to arrest, if not to reverse, the slide. First is the effort by the Horn of Africa countries which started with a mission to stem desertification and went ahead to create the Inter Governmental Authority on Desert and Development, IGADD, only to drift into a conflict management organisation, IGAD by removing the “desert” (D) part.
• Reducing deserts can be done. It requires the convergence of several factors that include individual passion, resources, and focused and united political support. This may be the difference between the countries in the Horn of Africa and Ningxia.

While some forces seemingly try to prove Thomas Malthus correct that humans will outstrip their ability to look after themselves, there are signs of hope. The global population has exceeded seven billion and food supply is proportionately down.

The amount of land is diminishing partly due to subdivisions and to the expansion of deserts. As “leaders” continue creating confusion with platitudes and little delivery, politics is a factor in tackling the challenges.

There are two examples of effort to arrest, if not to reverse, the slide. First is the effort by the Horn of Africa countries which started with a mission to stem desertification and went ahead to create the Inter Governmental Authority on Desert and Development, IGADD, only to drift into a conflict management organisation, IGAD by removing the “desert” (D) part.

Although IGAD has scored some successes, mainly in settling the Sudan conflict, its original purpose of reducing deserts has disappeared. Little is heard of fighting deserts but there is a growing bureaucracy in IGAD that pays more attention to national and regional political back scratching than to reducing deserts.

Those entrusted with the mission appear to have no passion and subsequently the IGAD countries lack commitment and clarity of purpose on matters deserts.

A different picture emerges, politically as well as in passionate commitment, in China where the government would like to prove that “socialism with Chinese characteristics” works. This is “capitalism” as guided by the Communist Party of China, CPC.

Given that the party and the state tend to be intertwined, successful CEOs, besides being showcases to visitors, ensure that the CPC government gets the appropriate credit.

Among such people is Luo Tao, president of the global China Nonferrous Metal Mining Company, CNMC, in Beijing. Quick to attempt disarming guests by displaying knowledge about individual visitors, he is suave, methodical, and confident.

More importantly, there is Wang You De, a prominent Hui. Found mainly in Ningxia Province in northwest China, the Hui are mostly Muslims of mixed descent.

They are among the poorest people in China and, as affirmative action, are allowed to have three children instead of the mandatory one child policy for the Han. The poor Hui from the mountains are being resettled in the Ningxia wasteland that is being turned into ecological showcase.

Wang You De is the provincial representative to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party that ratifies national policy.

He is currently credited with the systematic transformation of the Ningxia sand dunes into farmland and ecological preservation zones by covering sandy ground with grass-like “carpets” and tree seedlings. His seeming success, compared to IGAD zone, can be attributed to a combination of three factors.

First, there are no political divisions in Ningxia either at national or regional levels to sap the energy and divert attention. Second, he is passionate and has personal interest in eradicating the desert. Third, the one national government fully endorses his project and showers him with praises.

Reducing deserts, therefore, can be done. It requires the convergence of several factors that include individual passion, resources, and focused and united political support. This may be the difference between the countries in the Horn of Africa and Ningxia.

Prof Macharia teaches at USIU-Nairobi