Khartoum — Drought threatens 19 million hectares of mechanised and traditional rainfed land and pasture lands in Sudan, according to Dr Abdelazim Mirghani, secretary-general of the Desertification Council at the National Council for Environment and Natural Resources.

Presenting a paper on desertification in a workshop in Khartoum on Thursday, has said that the situation of about 55 per cent of the land in the country is deteriorating. 12 per cent needs urgent intervention to halt their deterioration by 2030, pointing out that Sudan is one of the 10 most deforested countries in the world.

He stated that desertification, drought, and land degradation are among the most serious and threatening natural phenomena to the peoples of the developing world in particular in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.