Desertification, Explained

Find out about what desertification is and how you can support us to combat it

For people living in the Sahel that rely on farmland for their food and income, desertification is making it harder to grow crops, and poverty is increasing.

But trees provide a solution.

How is Tree Aid Helping?

Every year, we work with local people to grow millions of trees across Africa’s drylands. These trees help to stabilise the soil, improve its fertility, and protect the land from droughts and floods. They also absorb carbon dioxide, a leading cause of the climate crisis.

We also support farmers to learn sustainable land management methods like digging zai pits — holes filled with compost that conserve water and nutrients. This training helps communities to restore degraded land today, and protect the land for tomorrow.

Tree Aid's contribution in 2018/19

59,479

hectares of land
protected and restored

2,195,081

trees grown in
Africa's drylands

446,070

people vulnerable to
desertification supported

The environment is growing hotter and hotter because there is degradation of the environment. But the Grow Hope project has come to help us halt desertification in this area. And if we really embrace it, the area will be green again.

A Wall to Stop the Desert

Tree Aid is partnered with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in support of the Great Green Wall initiative — an African-led movement aiming to grow an 8,000km natural wonder across the width of Africa. The movement is “a symbol of hope in the face of one of the biggest challenges of our time — desertification.” 

We are growing one tree every 19 seconds for the Great Green Wall, providing futures for millions of people whose lives are threatened by desertification.

Give Hope.
Grow Tomorrow.

Your gift will help restore land for the long term.

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Read more about desertificaton and the climate crisis

A look through Tree Aid’s archives

Meet and discover projects from our past. Join us for a deep dive into Tree Aid’s historic charity archives, from 1980s photography to vintage and digitised photographic slides.

Read more