By IPS Correspondents
BONN, Mar 10 2000 (IPS)

Experts from 30 countries in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean have agreed on South-South cooperation projects to combat desertification which forces people to migrate to cities or neigbouring countries to eke a living.

A spokesperson with the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said the second “Africa/Latin America and the Caribbean Forum”, held from Mar 6-8 in Bamako, Mali, and attended by 60 experts, had approved a programme of technical and scientific exchange.

Based in Bonn, the UNCCD secretariat is an important partner with the Center for International Cooperation (CIC) and aims at promoting cooperation between the developing and developed countries, particularly Germany.

UNCCD’s Sonia Filippazzi says the Forum was also joined by the representatives of international institutions and non governmental organisations.

They presented case studies which indicated that migrations can be, both the effect and the cause, of land degradation.

As a result, experts from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean will cross the ocean through the years 2000 and 2001 to participate in training courses and exchanges in partner countries, she added.

The exchanges will deal with water management, soil conservation, dune fixation, reforestation, early warning and geographical information systems, elaboration of national action programmes and other issues of relevance in the combat against desertification.

Detailed proposals were presented by Argentina, Benin, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mali, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. The proposals identified participants and partners, Filippazzi told IPS Friday.

Further initiatives would be considered and integrated in the programme in the next months, in the framework of enhanced South- South cooperation to combat land degradation and poverty.

At the Forum, Venezuela committed one million US Dollar to facilitate and support the South-South exchange of expertise. The country will host the Third Forum at a date to be established.

Cuba will host the Fifth Forum, while the Fourth will take place in an African country.

The Forum in Bamako was the follow-up on the first Africa/Latin America and Caribbean Forum on the implementation of the UNCCD, which took place in Recife, Brazil, in 1998.

Representatives of bilateral and multilateral partners, who attended the Forum, expressed interest in participating in the process.

A representative of Portugal said the country would organise, by the end of 2000, two technical training and exchanges with Portuguese-speaking African countries, in particular Cape Verde and Mozambique. He said the country was deeply convinced of the importance of the timely implementation of the global convention to combat desertification.

Participants to the Forum also called for the increased involvement of bilateral and multilateral institutions in support to the needs of countries affected by desertification.

They adopted a Declaration of Principles and Commitments, which will be forwarded to the summit meeting of G-77 developing countries and China, scheduled to take place in Cuba next month.

Stressing the importance of implementing the UNCCD, Filippazzi said in the Eastern region of Mali, Kayes, two families out of three know that the only way to make a living is to leave their impoverished land and migrate abroad.

Over the last 15 years nearly half of the male population has migrated at least once to neighbouring African countries countries or to Europe.

In Burkina Faso, desertification can be identified as the cause of 60 per cent of the swelling of the main urban centres. Families abandon rural areas hit by recurring droughts and land degradation and move into cities.

Peruvian farmers of the Southern coastal areas follow similar paths, as a consequence of recurrent drought and the effects of El Nino.

Every year, one Peruvian out of five migrates from rural areas into the main towns.

In Mexico, desertification is closely associated to poverty and marginalisation, affecting 47 per cent of the territory and leading to vast population movements at the national and international levels.

Between 1970 and 1995 more than 100,000 new small centres have been created, while it is estimated that eight to 10 million Mexicans have migrated to the United States in the past years out of a total population of 91 million.

Against this backdrop, the link between desertification and migration drew the focus of the Forum in Bamako, which was jointly organised by the UNCCD and the Mali government.

Participants confirmed their commitment to enhance sustainable development programmes in the affected areas, with a view to eradicate poverty and land degradation processes which are at the origin of the migration movements. In this framework, they called for closer collaboration between national and local authorities, as well as among countries and international organisations.

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