The World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) is observed worldwide on 17 June every year. The focus this year is “attainment of food security for all through sustainable food systems.”

With the slogan, ‘No such thing as a free lunch. Invest in healthy soil’, the 2015 observance calls for:

(1) A change in our land use practices through smart agriculture and adaptation to changing climate, especially in the dry fragile parts of the world where food shortages are becoming more and more severe

(2) Access to technology and land rights for small holder farmers who safeguard the environment and meet the food needs of millions of households, especially among the poorest households

(3) A balance in the land use for ecology and consumption, drawing on the best practices

(4) More investments in sustainable land practices so that sustainable food systems become the normal practice and

(5) More effective action on desertification whose effects on security, peace and stability are invisible yet real for the affected countries due especially to food and water scarcity and environmentally forced migration.

The Day will feature a global observance event in Milan, Italy, during the 2015 UN Expo as well as National and local observances.