The belief that deserts and drought were the results of divine punishment for indigenous peoples’ sinful ways was widely embraced by colonial administrators, scientists, and others beginning in the early 19th century. Replacing these old ideas with notions of the drylands as unique, highly variable environments with great value for local populations — including pastoralists, hunters and gatherers, farmers, and others with the specialized skills and knowledge to “make the desert bloom” on their own terms, with their own rules, and to meet their own needs — has many potential benefits. These benefits include livelihood enhancements for a large portion of the poor, greater food sovereignty which will help reduce famines during times of drought, improved quality of life, and a better condition of the physical environment.

The notion of arid lands as ‘wastelands’ derives largely from colonial assumptions — assumptions that continue to harm the world’s drylands and impact the lives of millions of people.

While global concern about desertification is most commonly dated to the 1970s when the Sahelian drought and famine hit that region with spectacular suffering and mortality, fear of invading deserts has driven global dryland policy for much longer, dating to the mid-20th century with UNESCO’s Arid Zone Program and to various colonial adventures in the world’s drylands long before that.