Desert Margins Program

 

The Desert Margins Program (DMP) is a collaborative effort convened by ICRISAT that unites nine African countries straddling the desert margins that ring the heart of Africa: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe. A large proportion of the 120 million inhabitants of these countries depend on farming and livestock-raising for their food supplies and income. But rainfall is low and unreliable in these areas, while human and livestock populations are increasing — depleting the land of its vegetative cover, and exposing its soils to erosion and biodiversity loss. This traps people in a cycle of poverty.

The goal of the DMP is to help these countries arrest land degradation through more sustainable practices and systems that improve livelihoods. The DMP pursues this goal through partnership-based research-for-development activities, demonstration to farmers, and capacity-building.

For more information on the DMP, click here .