Examining the Links between Poverty and Land Degradation: From Blaming the Poor toward Recognising the Rights of the Poor
2016
This chapter examines the links between poverty and land degradation, with a
special focus on marginal dryland areas, particularly in Africa. Traditional views on
the links between poverty and the environment, or the ‘poverty-environment nexus’,
locate the causes of desertification and land degradation in human activity, driven
in particular by poverty that leads to the overexploitation of the land. Poor people
are often blamed for unsustainable land use practices, leaving the land vulnerable to
degradation and desertification. Poverty is seen as a key cause of land degradation.
Poverty is also recognised as a consequence of land degradation. As land becomes
increasingly degraded, the poor may be forced to extract even more from the land,
leading to what has become know as a vicious cycle or downward spiral of poverty
and land degradation. The spectre of this downward spiral of poverty and land
degradation has long informed policy making.
- Correction
- Source
- Cite
- Save
- Machine Reading By IdeaReader
0
References
9
Citations
NaN
KQI