Desertification is defined by Wikipedia as a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. Desertification seems inoffensive but it is a measure threat for the environment this century and this has become a call for interest worldwide with a global appeal for the fight against deforestation.

Desertification was not surely a random creation of an entity but it came about as a result of exploitative use of the environment by man and a little bit from the natural disasters which have increased this century. What role did man played in enhancing deforestation? This is the first question someone will ask himself. Taking a typical example of the Far-North region of Cameroon which is suffering from an acute deforestation, an excessive cutting of these trees for household use is one of the important causes of deforestation, due to the low income perceived by these households which could not afford a cooking gas, people rather turn to cut down these trees in order to use it as firewood, this is really affecting the environment of this region because temperatures have considerably rose and it makes life difficult for the inhabitants. Again, the infrastructural development that is going on is really a disadvantage for the environment, we are in a city which is gradually developing so this implies the construction of industries, roads, even housing facilities, so trees are cleared in order to leave place to these facilities, which is unfair because these facilities though enhance human way of living but it removes the ?man in his natural environment? factor. These are the major causes of deforestation in the region but we cannot forget minor factors such as expansion of farm land by many farmers for subsistence, and overgrazing because we are in a region where we have a great percentage of cows so they have to eat.

We all know that anything a cause automatically has a consequence which could be positive or negative but we should say the consequences derived from desertification are mainly negative: the first and foremost consequence we can note here is that desertification led to the lack of usability of the soils due to the lack of trees, the soil becomes fragile since water and wind can easily carry them, with this salt can develop in the soil and make it difficult for plant growth, also after this consequence, the vegetation is likely to be destroyed because the soil is removed leaving place to a poor burying of the trees? roots in the soil, making it vulnerable to any natural factor or overgrazing. To go far, it can cause Famine since the soil is not suited for growing food, bringing a decline of the food resources and with the rise of the population due to socio-economic development, there is the threat of starvation which will consequently lead to death and reduction of the population, to finish with the consequences, people near the affected areas are endangered because of the risk of flooding, dust storms, pollution and poor water quality, when we know that water is life, we should understand that without the water quality people can die of water-borne diseases, such as cholera just mentioning this one.

I think after reading the above causes and consequences, people will ask themselves if the Cameroon government is giving it a deaf ear but no, the government is trying to fight as much as possible for the reduction of Desertification, by so doing through the great help of the Ministry in charge of Environmental problems, they have launched the second phase of the ?Opération Sahel Vert? in 2008 which is there to recruit students and volunteers in order to plant trees and contribute efficiently in fighting against deforestation, this have been the major project against deforestation, the introduction of ANAFOR (Agence Nationale d?Appui au Developpement Forestier) is also a major move towards countering deforestation, they set up nurseries and use it for planting, this agency is really trying to fight on his part against the environmental phenomenon of the century. Though some measures are put in place, these measures are not as efficient as we think due to mismanagement of these projects and lack of funds to carry out substantial fight. Other agencies exist but they are mainly based for agricultural management.

After the reading of this article, we should note that Desertification is a real threat for an environment and we should not give it a blind eye nor deaf ear, everybody should try on his part to fight against Desertification. Should we sacrifice our socio-economic development in order to fight against Deforestation? I think that is the main question readers should ask themselves at the end. As we usually say in my community ?what causes your death does not come very far, it is in your shoes? So let?s fight against Deforestation, in order to prepare a better future!!!