Governance challenges and opportunities for desertification

James will be attending the 16th UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in December, where he will co-chair a panel discussion about the governance challenges and opportunities of desertification.

Governance challenges and opportunities in managing desertification: A prelude to UNCDD COP16

The 16th Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will convene in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against a backdrop of intensifying global desertification. This phenomenon, characterized by the degradation of arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid lands. 

In 2022, globally, 1.52 billion Ha of degraded land was reported, which exposes more than 1.2 billion people to degraded lands. Out of 98 countries affected by drought, 15 have experienced severe or extreme drought over a portion or all of their territory. 

Despite 9.3 billion USD being annually spent on land desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD), DLDD is still a pressing and persistent issue. 

Many challenges in resolving desertification are exacerbated by the governance of DLDD. Good ideas are only as good as their ability to be governed effectively. 

Therefore, as COP16 approaches, key governance challenges must be addressed to enable effective solutions, while promising opportunities for collaboration and innovation in desertification management also emerge.

Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) - A key challenge of governing DLDD

Desertification is not merely a result of climatic factors such as drought; it is heavily driven by human activities, including unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation, and inappropriate land use. Governance in this realm involves complex interactions between local, national, and international policies. This beckons several questions: how can power dynamics influence the (in)equity of DLDD programs? How do we promote long-term co-benefits to help build coalitions and consensus around DLDD programs? 

The effectiveness of DLDD governance hinges on their ability to address the socio-economic, political, and cultural dimensions of desertification. In this sense, coalition building and co-benefit generation is key to govern DLDD for the long-term. 

Part of the challenge in bridging silos is the difficulty in achieving Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) - which is the ability to address certain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without jeopardising other SDGs. This is a never ending challenge in governing any environmental issue, but especially so for DLDD. 

The PCSD challenge is particularly pronounced when balancing conservation goals with the immediate economic needs of communities in drylands. What co-benefits and coalitions can be generated to support PCSD in this context? 

Agroforestry and mulching - the silver bullet for PCSD in reconciling agriculture and desertification? 

Initiatives such as agroforestry—a practice that integrates trees and shrubs with crops and livestock— are increasingly prompted as a governance methodology that promotes co-benefits and coalitions for both agriculture and desertification. 

Agroforestry has shown promise in places like Ethiopia, where smallholder farmers have successfully used trees to prevent soil erosion, restore soil fertility, and provide shade and fodder for animals. Similarly, sustainable grazing practices have been effectively implemented in parts of Mongolia, where rotational grazing and controlled stocking rates help prevent overgrazing while sustaining pastoral livelihoods.

Soil restoration through cover crops, composting, and mulching is another strategy that benefits both conservation and livelihoods. In many Sahel countries, such as Burkina Faso, local farmers use stone bunds to slow down water runoff and trap soil, which has led to impressive improvements in crop yields. 

This type of governance promotes social equity, as it ensures local populations are included in decision-making and benefit from land restoration efforts. In this sense, it synergises environmental, social and agricultural benefits, aligning the needs of local people and the local environment.  

However, these sorts of governance outcomes only manifest through coordination within and between organisations, and unfortunately, many government, business and civil society organisations operate in silos. 

In this context, data management and monitoring is paramount. 

Data stewardship and geospatial data for governing DLDD

Coordination challenges can be enhanced by stronger data stewardship and consequently, better monitoring mechanisms. Afterall - what you can’t measure, you can’t manage. 

Desertification is a slow, cumulative process that requires precise, long-term monitoring to understand and combat its impacts. Yet, many countries, especially those severely affected by desertification, lack the resources and tools to collect and analyse data effectively. This gap hinders evidence-based decision-making and prevents stakeholders from accurately assessing the effectiveness of their interventions.

For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, limited access to satellite imagery and digital mapping tools has made it difficult to monitor land degradation accurately. Without reliable data, it becomes challenging to track progress, allocate resources, or adapt interventions to shifting environmental conditions. 

Innovative tools like the Trends.earth tool provides countries with accessible technology to monitor and map desertification hotspots. It is a successful example of multi-organisation cooperation - being a collaboration between Conservation International, Lund University, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

For instance, using the Trends.earth tool, Central Asia has been able to map Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) indicators, and countries like Namibia have been able to integrate the Trends.earth tool in their own LDN initiatives. 

These tangible examples demonstrate the power of satellite imagery and geospatial data, but it's typically detached from more qualitative, bottom-up insights generated by people ‘on the ground.’ 

Collective intelligence - governance of data & monitoring from a bottom-up perspective? 

An overdependence on top-down data gathering contravenes principles of Collective Intelligence (CI). CI is the enhanced capacity created when organisations and people collaborate, often supported by technology, to mobilise a wider range of information, ideas and insights about a complex issue, often in real time. 

Key principles of CI include the need for diverse human perspectives in data collection inputs, in addition to citizen-centricity as a way of enabling data empowerment, not just data extraction. Failure to demonstrate these principles jeopardises the legitimacy of CI practices. 

In this sense, an over-dependence on top-down quantitative data collection methods, such as satellite imagery, undermines principles of good CI in the context of DLDD. 

So what can be done to better integrate qualitative insights in the governance of DLDD? 

Looking forward: Assessing opportunities for governing DLDD more effectively 

As the global community convenes at COP16, there is a clear call to action: address the governance complexities of desertification with collaborative, innovative approaches that bridge policy gaps, respect local livelihoods, and enhance data stewardship. Effective desertification governance hinges on aligning international, national, and local priorities while promoting sustainable land practices. Examples from Ethiopia’s agroforestry to Burkina Faso’s soil restoration illustrate that success is possible when communities are empowered and conservation is balanced with economic needs.

Improving monitoring systems through geospatial tools and embracing Collective Intelligence (CI) principles can amplify these efforts, integrating diverse perspectives and building data-driven, community-centered solutions. COP16 offers a unique opportunity to advance these principles and inspire policy coherence, foster local engagement, and mobilise international resources. By building on these foundations, we can collectively turn the tide on desertification, ensuring resilient landscapes and secure livelihoods for those most affected.