The second part of a Natural World special
Narrated by Sue MacGregor Water
Two-thirds of all countries are threatened by encroaching deserts.
Burkina Faso, on the edge of the Sahel in west Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has been gripped by drought since
1968, yet simple techniques are helping villagers conserve their precious rainfall.
In the western USA, massive irrigation schemes costing billions of dollars are now bringing a bitter harvest of subsidised yet unsaleable crops. Salt and selenium building up in the soil threaten to put a million acres out of production.
Desertification depends on economics, and farmers struggling to improve their drought-stricken land in Africa are threatened by the subsidies given to farms in the EEC and the USA. Photography
BRIAN MCDAIRMANT. TERRY MORRISON
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