Deserts 'will drive out millions'
2007-04-03 12:20
Algiers - Desertification will drive 65 million Africans to seek refuge in the West, an Algerian minister warned on Monday at the opening of a conference on the problem.
Cherif Rahmani, minister for territorial planning, said that by 2025 the number of people living in deserts would have doubled to two billion people, including 750 million in Africa.
He called for international co-operation to stop the increasing degradation of land.
It needed $400m over three or four years to transform a hectare of semi-arid land into ground that could be cultivated, he said.
"Desertification loses the world economy $48bn a year, including nine billion in Africa," said Abdesselam Chelghoum, the general secretary of the Algerian ministry for agriculture and rural development.
The conference on desertification, which was jointly organised by the Algerian parliament and the Pan-African parliament, runs until Wednesday.
Participants include representatives from 20 African countries, European deputies and international specialists in the field.