The field training program was launched on May 30th in the central city of Konya and the southern cities of Mersin and Adana, and the training sessions will continue for a week. Experts from a large number of countries from North Africa's Algeria and Morocco to Madagascar in southeastern Africa and Somalia in the west will undergo the training.
Desertification affects more than 250 million people in the world. A further 1.2 billion people in 110 countries are under threat from desertification. Turkey has pledged $5 million in aid to African countries as well as providing education to these countries on how to combat desertification, increase plant production and similar subjects.
Turkey itself is among the countries affected by the increase in non-arable lands and climate change as it sits in a geographically challenging location sandwiched between different climates and is under threat from climate change. More than half of Turkish land has the characteristics of arid, semi-arid and semi-humid climates. Turkey's central and southeastern regions, known for vast flatlands and steep mountains, are particularly vulnerable to the risk of desertification. Erosion is another threat for Turkey where most lands have an elevation far higher than countries in its immediate region and European countries. The mass planting of trees and improving pastures are among the measures being taken against erosion and desertification as part of an action plan by the government.
