The intercropping of perennials with annual food crops reduces erosion, and shelters annuals from extremes of climate. The removal of perennials leaves annual crops vulnerable. Some global processes have also been connected to desertification in the Sahel region and elsewhere, including climate change and changes in oceanic circulation. Regardless of the precise cause of desertification, it is obvious that the effects are very detrimental to local populations of both humans and wildlife. The effects of desertification can be widely seen in the Sahel.
Desertification also has global significance.
This causes strain on residents as poor harvests cause hunger, and residents are often forced to move on to new land. Solutions to desertification in the Sahel region are neither simple nor quickly implemented. This is apparent when one recognizes that the actual cause of desertification is not clear. Many countries affected by desertification are developing countries and are the countries which can least afford to implement solutions, especially large-scale ones. Small-scale, local solutions are necessary to change local farming practices.