UN General Assembly
1985

For almost 17 years Africa has been gripped by an implacable drought that has led to a serious reduction in the availability of water and arable land, the destruction of vast areas of fauna and flora and the death through hunger and thirst of thousands of men, women and children. This situation is a matter of acute concern to African Governments which, at the national, subregional and continental levels, have tried to take the first steps towards a solution. At the national level, African leaders have undertaken to redefine agricultural strategies and to maintain, diversify and reconstitute vegetation, to ensure soil preservation, to develop water resources to ensure food security by promoting and developing food crops and livestock. Efforts to harmonize these initiatives have been made at the subregional and continental levels. Thus, within the context of the Inter-State Committee to Combat Drought in the Sahel, eight countries have developed an agreed program of rehabilitation, giving priority to water control, combating desertification through reforestation, developing agriculture and livestock and building buffer stocks of grain.