The importance of dryland development becomes clear when considering that desertification threatens over one third of the Earth's land surface, and that it affects directly the lives of more than 250 million people and threatens another 1.2 billion in 110 countries. An estimated 60 million of those affected in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to move towards northern Africa and Europe by 2020.
Scientists, experts and decision-makers from the world's dryland regions adopted the Tunis Declaration on research priorities to promote sustainable development in arid zones and combat desertification. The Declaration was adopted at the close of the Future of Drylands conference, a landmark event in the United Nations International Year of Deserts and Desertification, which was co-organized by UNESCO.