Sand and dust storms

Sand and dust storms (SDS) have major transboundary impacts on the environment, climate, health, livelihoods, agriculture and food security, as well as on the socioeconomic well-being of societies. Particularly common in arid and semi-arid regions, SDS directly affect 151 countries in Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Australia.

Sand and dust storms can seriously jeopardize economic development and threaten the achievement of several SDGs. Economic losses from a single SDS event can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The impacts fall disproportionately on those with the least capacity to cope with them, including smallholders farmers, people living in poverty and those who are malnourished.

The frequency and intensity of SDS have increased in some dryland regions over recent decades due to land use and land cover changes as well as climatic factors. Unless appropriate mitigating actions are taken, the adverse impacts of SDS will become even more severe, with many regions projected to experience increasing aridity and drought frequency/intensity due to climate change.

The agricultural sector is one of the major anthropogenic drivers of SDS – via unsustainable land and water management, desertification and land degradation – but SDS can also have direct impacts on agriculture, including the loss of crops, trees and livestock, or significant decreases in their production.

Sustainable land and water use and management practices in the cropping, livestock and forestry sectors offer strategic entry points for both SDS source and impact mitigation. Equally important issues are integrated land-use planning and disaster risk reduction (DRR).

FAO has a strong technical focus on thematic areas that are key for SDS, such as desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) and DRR. Combating SDS assists countries in enhancing food security and strengthening resilience to risks, as well as enhancing the livelihoods and well‑being of rural people.

For these reasons, FAO has acted as Chair of the UN Coalition on Combating SDS in the period 2020–2024 and is continuing to support the Coalition as an active member.