The result of this attitude has been the destruction of soil systems and soil loss on a vast scale, planet wide. These salts build up in the soil. Unless the soil is washed by rain or left fallow the salts eventually form a hard crust and the soil becomes useless to agriculture. According to the UN Conference on Desertification, over a tenth of the world's agricultural land suffers from salination, and the area grows daily. Deforestation, overgrazing and stupid agricultural policies mean that the land, especially in dry areas like most of South Africa, is stripped of the protective covering of plants.
Erosion sets in and the area eventually becomes a desert.
The soil becomes sand with little or no organic matter to hold it. As much as one third of the earth's land surface is already affected by desertification. Caught early, desertification may be halted - but in situations of poverty or lack of political will, this is unlikely and land becomes permanent desert. Desertification is not seen as a threat to the Western Cape region of South Africa but we should remember that only a few kilometers north of us is the semi-desert region of the West Coast. With Climate Change caused by global warming, it is possible that the Western Cape will become drier and that desertification will become a real threat.