Argument

Argument. By Prof. Elouali Aailal.

Light is progressively shed on deserts, the Sahara, and arid lands when sand encroachment increases and desertification spreads at the expense of more land. More than ever, scientific research in arid lands must be directed to cope with the urgent needs, empower the natural and economic potentials of such promising lands, and rationally manage their vital resources. Desert tourism (Saharan tourism) could be a sustainable economic locomotive in most deserts by highlighting their natural beauty and cultural history while safeguarding their fragile environments. Also, the vastness of drylands and often their fertility enhances the potential of desert agriculture (arid agriculture and farming), especially in coastal deserts like the Moroccan Atlantic Sahara Desert, due to their proximity to the ocean, which makes very affordable the solar energy-based ocean water desalination (water scarcity, drought, rational irrigation), as deserts are naturally abundant in terms of desert energy (desert solar energy, desert wind energy).

However, some economic, financial (investment, funding), logistical, and even bureaucratic stumbling blocks still need to be solved. For instance, there needs to be a better match between the outputs of higher education and vocational training, the needs and requirements of the labor and job market, and the economic potential of deserts and dry lands. Furthermore, the absence of specialized higher education and research entities in most of the world's deserts and arid lands, coupled with their remoteness, generates enormous challenges and, as a result, affects the quality of sustainable development. Many deserts' isolation and harsh climate make research and its implementation expensive. Also, some socio-cultural barriers burden the efforts to adopt new practices and reduce their effectiveness in arid and drylands.

Although some countries have research bodies specialized in deserts, they are located far from the arid lands in question, possibly due to logistical difficulties. Such unsuitable locations make it hard for the research entities to accomplish their tasks as they would if they were located in the concerned arid regions amidst their geographical study space, where a lot of logistical complications disappear simply by being in place in desert zones, not to mention that these research entities will be close to the local populations which themselves are more likely to be committed to studying, conducting research and specializing in their arid land, besides, desert populations are the first to be interested in the positive implications of scientific research on arid regions.

A robust collaboration and partnership at local, national, and international levels among policymakers (governments), academia (universities, laboratories, and research institutes and centers), desert communities (civil society), and the private sector (business, companies) are essential for innovating research and science-based approaches aimed at comprehensive sustainable development of deserts and arid lands, considering the equilibrium among social, environmental, and economic dimensions of these remarkable territories.

Dr. Elouali Aailal.

Founder and President of the International Congress on Desert Economy. Dakhla city. Morocco.

Professor at the National School of  Business and Management - Dakhla (ENCG Dakhla).