Ecomigration
Land degradation often forces people to abandon their farms and homes. Millions of people have become ecomigrants, searching for better land and lives elsewhere.
Mexico loses approximately 2250 square kilometers of farmland to degradation each year. Partially because of this, about 900,000 people leave Mexico's arid and semi-arid lands every year.
One place where many of these ecomigrants travel to is the United States. Millions of people cross the U.S. border for economic reasons; dryland degradation in Mexico adds to this pressure.
Pictured here are two examples of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. On the right, a crowd gathers at a hole in the metal fence along the California border. Above, two people wade across the Rio Grande River into Texas.
photo credits: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
