Africa has massive land resources.  Unfortunately, much of the land is of a very low quality for human activities such as agriculture.

65% of the continent is dry land, a total of 2 billion hectares.  Of this, one-third is basically uninhabitable desert.  The rest consists of regions of high degrees of aridity.  Though the climate in these places is very difficult, over 400 million Africans live there.

What land resources Africa does have are being lost to desertification.  A total of 36 African countries now suffer from desertification that is brought on by drought.

Droughts are a constant problem in Africa, especially in the dryer regions.  A lack of water can mean death for many crops, and as a result, for many people.

Loss of land through soil and vegetation degradation is a major problem in Africa.  The UN estimated in 1991 that one-third of Africa's cropland, or half a billion hectares, is moderately to severely damaged.  Some estimates say the problem could be even worse.

Land degradation is a major problem for Africa because the continent already suffers from limits to agriculture and from widespread hunger.  The soil is usually of low quality and the weather tends to be very poor for agriculture.  Around one half of Africa's cultivable land is arid, and bringing in water is usually not a possibility.

Despite the limitations, agriculture accounts for 20-30 of the gross domestic product of the average African country.  As populations continue to grow at alarming rates and problems like desertification claim more of Africa's land, hunger could intensify.