desertification

IPA/dɪˌzɜːtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/
IPA/dɪˌzɜːrtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/

desertification — noun

1. the process in which farmland or other productive land slowly becomes dry and tu

1.nounB2
Definition

the process in which farmland or other productive land slowly becomes dry and turns into a desert, often because of human activities such as too much farming, the loss of trees, or climate change

Example

Desertification has forced thousands of families in the Gobi region to move to cities in search of work.

desertification + force [people] + to [move]

The United Nations report warns that desertification threatens the food supply of over a billion people.

desertification + threaten + [food supply]

Common collocations
  • fight desertification
  • combat desertification
  • prevent desertification
  • slow desertification
  • reverse desertification
  • desertification threatens
  • desertification affects
  • desertification spreads
  • cause desertification
  • the spread of desertification
Synonyms
  • land degradation

    broader term that includes desertification plus other forms of environmental damage

  • soil erosion

    narrower term referring specifically to the loss of topsoil, which is one part of desertification

Antonyms
  • reforestation

    the opposite process — planting trees to restore land

  • land restoration

    the process of returning damaged land to a healthy, productive state

Usage Note

An uncountable noun used mainly in environmental science and news reporting. Commonly appears with verbs like 'fight', 'combat', 'prevent', 'slow', and 'reverse'. The term is broader than 'deforestation' — desertification includes soil degradation, water loss, and vegetation decline.

Common Mistakes

Deforestation is turning the land into desert.
Desertification is turning the land into desert.
Deforestation only means cutting down trees; desertification covers the full process of land becoming desert, including soil and water changes.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four terms describe environmental damage, but they differ in scope. Desertification is the broadest: it covers the full transformation of productive land into desert — including water loss, soil damage, and vegetation death. Deforestation is narrower, referring only to the removal of trees, though it can trigger desertification. Land degradation is the widest umbrella, covering any decline in land quality from any cause (pollution, mining, etc.), while desertification is a specific type of degradation. Soil erosion is the physical loss of topsoil by wind or water — it is a symptom of both degradation and desertification, not a synonym. For example: 'Deforestation of the hillsides led to soil erosion, and over decades the area experienced full desertification — a severe form of land degradation that left the soil unable to support crops.'

desertification ↗deforestation ↗land degradationsoil erosion

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • the process of desertification
  • the effects of desertification
  • the fight against desertification
  • the spread of desertification

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Desertification is a 20th-century word formed from 'desert' (from Latin 'desertum', meaning 'a deserted or abandoned place') and the suffix '-ification' (from Latin '-ficare', meaning 'to make or cause'). The term was first used in the 1940s by French scientist André Aubréville to describe the process of land turning into desert in Africa. It gained wider attention during the severe droughts in the Sahel region in the 1970s.