Humankind has gotten in a new period of drought, as the world grapples with an intensifying systemic drought danger, Daniel Tsegai, program officer at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), stated in a recent interview.
Drought was as soon as mainly related to rainfall and agricultural production, Tsegai said.
But today, it has become a multi-sectoral, systemic shock.
No sector, no part of the economy, and no country is immune to its impacts.
Therefore, Tsegai said that dry spell today is no longer an isolated climate event restricted to rural farming regions.
The cascading and spiraling impacts of droughts are extensive and multidimensional; even megacities are dealing with water scarcity and severe drought risks.He kept in mind that the nature of droughts is altering: they are ending up being more frequent, more extreme, more widespread and significantly unpredictable.
One especially alarming pattern is the rise of flash droughts, which establish quickly over a brief time and intensify without adequate early caution, seriously impacting agriculture, water supply and urban operations.Traditional techniques to dry spell are no longer enough, Tsegai stated.
When we discuss dry spell, we shouldnt simply look up to see if its raining.
We require to look down and ask: can we still grow crops? Do we still have the capability to restore abject land? According to the Drought Hotspots Around the World 2023-2025 report released Wednesday, the frequency of drought events globally increased by 30 percent between 2000 and 2019.
In spite of being labeled a quiet disaster, the effects of drought are never quiet.
Drought is a threat multiplier, Tsegai stated.
It affects food, water, biodiversity, health and energy –-- these are all pillars of society that dry spell is scrambling in front of our eyes.
He highlighted the unequal effects of drought throughout populations and areas, keeping in mind that around 85 percent of those impacted reside in low and middle-income countries.
Drought knows no boundaries, but drought understands gender, he said.
In some areas, dry spell causes cravings, school dropouts, even forces women into early marital relationship.
The discussion on drought has actually been shifting over the last few years.
Its extremely crucial that we discuss dry spell as being an economic concern too, he stated.
It is costing nations between one and ten percent of their GDP, depending upon the country.
The losses are considerable.
Drought is certainly expensive, however the real issue, Tsegai said, lies in the absence of readiness.
Citing recent studies, he kept in mind that a one-dollar investment in drought durability causes seven dollars in healing.
Nevertheless, lots of countries are still stuck in reactive responses, lacking proactive and forward-looking methods to deal with drought effectively.Tsegai kept in mind that over 80 countries have actually developed nationwide drought strategies, however the key difficulty lies in putting them into action.
We need to improve watering innovation so that we can actually help decrease the waste of water.
Buying watershed remediation and indigenous crop systems pays back lot of times over in prevented losses, he said, highlighting the significance of nature-based services, land restoration, land rehabilitation, and rainwater harvesting.
This is not a matter of choice, but a need, he added.Tsegai emphasized that attending to drought requires moving from short-term emergency situation reactions to building long-term strength.
He kept in mind that dry spell is not limited to a single sector like agriculture or water; instead, it functions as a connector, impacting whatever from tourism and energy to education and public health.
Therefore, he required cross-sectoral and multi-level collaboration involving ministries, local communities, and national governments.Speaking about Chinas role in global drought governance, Tsegai said the country has actually collected substantial experience in land remediation and drought-resilient technologies, and is sharing that experience with drought-prone regions like Africa and Central Asia.
Chinas support has played a central role in areas like Central Asia and has actually been extensively welcomed, he stated.
In Africa, China is assisting to move the paradigm from a reactive method to a more proactive one, focusing on structure dry spell durability in advance.
Tsegai noted that the most significant issue with dry spell management approaches is the short-termism, highlighting that China not only provides technical expertise and investment, however also supports capacity structure, which has a long-term result on the change that we want.
About 130 nations have actually committed to land-degradation-neutrality under the UNCCD, he said, including that Chinas experience, technologies, and knowledge will play a constructive function in this worldwide effort to fight drought and bring back abject land.(Cover: A sandbank on the low-water Danube has been destroyed and dried out in Bavaria, Germany, July 2, 2025./ VCG)