by BenVehof

INTRODUCTION

Desertification

            Desertification is the process in which fertile land is degraded to desert, often as a result of human activity and climate change. This process is generally due to the improper management of farmland, leading to a vicious cycle of topsoil erosion. Improper land management is the cause of this in many developing countries and is often difficult to control because the livelihood of the people often depends on practices that contribute to soil erosion (Martin and Hine, 2016). In 2007, 41% of the earth’s landmass was characterised as desert drylands and was home to more than 38% of the total population of 6.5 billion people at the time (Reynolds et al., 2007). Every year, 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of fertile land are lost to droughts and desertification (Desert Control, 2019).

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            Lack of precipitation is often used as an indicator to measure aridity (table 1) (D’Odoricoa et al., 2012). Global action needs to be taken to prevent the growth of deserts because it is often developing nations with unstable governments struggling the most. Developing nations lack the knowledge and understanding of climate change and desertification, but more importantly they lack technologies, methods and money in order to preserve their fertile land (Stringer, 2008). Areas effected the most by desertification are sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and central Asia (D’Odoricoa et al., 2012). Desertification is an increasingly evident problem for Yemen at the southern most point of the Arabian Peninsula where 3-5% of its cultivated crop land is converted to desert annually. Desertification has major effects on the availability of arable land for Yemeni farmers and leads to many having to abandon their livelihoods (Zaken, 2019). It is known that desertification of sandy soils is most often caused by wind and water erosion and the advancement of sand dunes. The best way to prevent erosion is the use of vegetation cover protecting and holding the soil together. With Liquid NanoClay (LNC) this becomes possible because it allows vegetation to grow in sandy soils with less water to prevent wind and flood erosion while potentially returning the desert into prime agricultural land (Desert Control Institute Inc., 2007).

 

Table 1

Average annual precipitation around the world

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Note: Data is based on the period between 1901–2009. Red and orange colours characterize arid climates, Yemen is enclosed in the circle (D’Odoricoa et al., 2012).

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Yemen Climate Summary

            Yemen can be divided into three main climate zones, the coastal plains, temperate western highlands, and the northeastern desert plain (Table 2) (USAID 2019). The coastal plains have an average annual temperature of 24°C to 35°C, receive an average annual rainfall of 10-100mm and experience high humidity from 50% to 70% (USAID 2019). The temperate western highlands, where most of Yemen’s degrading agriculture lies, experiences average annual temperatures between 10°C and 22°C where frost is occasionally possible in the winter (USAID 2019). The temperate western highlands receive an average rain fall of 100-600 mm but can average as much as 1000mm on a wet year. Where winter can be cold, with temperatures below 0ºC, temperate and rainy summers (Zaken, 2019). The northeastern desert plain is the largest climate zone in Yemen and has annual temperatures averaging from 19°C to 33°C and receive low annual precipitation from 50 to 100 mm (Table 3) (USAID 2019).

On average, temperature in Yemen is increasing while the precipitation is decreasing (Zaken, 2019). In the last 30 years, temperature has increased at a rate of 0.19 ºC per decade and total annual precipitation experienced an average increase of 29% but a decrease in the average rainfall at a rate of 12 mm per month per decade (Zaken, 2019).

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Table 2

Agro-ecological map of Yemen

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Note: Agro ecological map of Yemen showing coastal plains (green), temperate western highlands (red) and desert plains (yellow) from USAID, 2019.

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Table 3

Average annual temperature, rainfall and humidity in coastal plains, temperate western highlands and northeastern desert plain

 

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from USAID, 2019.  

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Water and food Crises

            Yemen is located on the southern most point of the Arabian Peninsula and is the most water scarce country in the world (Varisco, 2019). What was historically a productive and fertile land due to its extensive terrace systems and water harvesting techniques, is now facing critical water scarcity (Varisco, 2019). Critical water scarcity is evident when demand exceeds supply. This is the case in Yemen where virtually every part of Yemen is seeing water tables decline (Varisco, 2019). An example of this is at the Ṣa‘da basin in the north western lower highlands (Zaken, 2019) where in 1983, the water table was 20-40m, then in 1992 it had lowered to 80-90m (Varisco, 2019). The local farmers in the area reported their wells deepening 40-85m and running dry twice as fast as five years earlier (Varisco, 2019). The Sa’da basin is expected to be exhausted by 2031 if no one takes action to control water use and implement water saving technology (Varisco, 2019). As water tables decline, so does the access of water to Yemeni communities. In 1992 the total renewable water resources per capita in Yemen was 158.6 m3, more recently in 2014 it was as low as 78.26 m3 and is continuing to decline (Varisco, 2019). The global average of renewable water resources per capita is 2500 m3 (Haidera et al., 2011).

 

            The cause of the water scarcity crisis in Yemen is a combination of factors involving increasing population, conflict, climate change and improper water conservation techniques (Haidera et al., 2011). Yemen has an area of 527,970 km2 (NAPA Yemen, 2010).  With an estimated population of 22.2 million people in 2008, per capita water availability continues to fall steadily as the national population annually grows 3.5% (Haidera et al., 2011). The growing population alone could account for reducing water availability per capita by 50% by the year 2050 (Joseph and Wodon, 2013). Due to Yemen’s hyper arid climate and substandard growing conditions, the country heavily relies on imported food, and the current armed conflicts have blocked food transportation routes, quickly turning a water crisis to a food crisis (Dureab et al., 2019). The country imported 70-90% of its cereals and many other food items as well (Zaken, 2018). Maize, millet, sorghum, and wheat are mainly only cultivated for household or village level consumption which is becoming increasingly difficult with the changing climate (Zaken, 2018).  The decrease in food availability leads to increased food prices while many Yemeni are already struggling to buy food. The starvation in Yemen is a combination of the political and environmental challenges this country faces (Dureab et al., 2019). As a result, a total of 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished, and 462,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition (Dureab et al., 2019).

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Retrieved from https://www.robertharding.com/

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            Adding to the food and water crises, by applying more pressure on Yemen’s water resources, temperature across the country is expected to rise, and with that precipitation is expected to decrease (Haidera et al., 2011). As enough water to grow crops becomes more scarce farms are being abandoned to the desert (Varisco, 2019). The government of Yemen is pressured to devote its energy and resources to the civil war rather than the climate change crisis (Dureab et al., 2019). Much of the weight to over come the water and food crises in Yemen is on the shoulders of Yemeni farmers who have less and less land each year because of desertification. Farmers in Yemen make up 60% of the population and 44% of the workforce, in many places more than 90% (Joseph and Wodon, 2013). However, drought and food scarcity breeds conflict (Theisen, 2012). Water shortages have been known to cause civil unrest within communities. 70–80% of rural conflicts are directly related to water (Dureab et al., 2019). Yemen's minister of Water and Environment, stated that much of the country's rising militancy can be tied to a conflict over resources such as land, oil, or water (Dureab et al., 2019).

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Physical Properties

            Yemen is in desperate need of technologies to combat climate change and put an end to the water and food crisis. Liquid Nano Clay (LNC), by Desert control has proven beneficial at many test sites with a climate like Yemen and is just what Yemen needs to come out of their food and water crisis (Desert Control, 2019). Desert Control is a company based in Norway, that after many years of research, has developed a technology that facilitates turning desert sand into productive soil (Desert Control, 2019). Successful test sites in the United Arab Emirates, China, Pakistan, India and Egypt demonstrate promising effects to agriculture in Yemen and possibly the way agriculture is done throughout the world (Desert Control, 2019). The effects of LNC can be shown in below in Pakistan (table 4).

Table 4

LNC test area in Pakistan

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Note: left before, right after 1 year of application. From Desert Control (2019)

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             The natural clay-water mixture is poured over the surface of the sand, then allowed to soak into a depth of around 60cm depending on the severity of the sandy soil and the root depth of the planned crop (Desert Control, 2019). In just 7 hours after application the nano particles of clay have surrounded and adhered to the sand particles in a 1.5 nanometer thick layer, allowing the new medium to retain moisture (Desert Control, 2019). Laboratory and field tests show the addition of nano clay to sandy soil increased the plasticity index, the optimum moisture content, the total stress cohesion and decreased the maximum dry density (Tabarsa et al., 2018).

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Table 5

The effects of LNC on sandy soil structure

 

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Note: (a) sandy soil, (b) sandy soil plus 2% liquid nanocaly. From Tabarsa et al. (2018).

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            The sand-clay medium is both airy and retains moisture very well, permitting the growth of Mycorrhizal fungi and providing a suitable environment for plant growth (Solaiman, 2014). Mycorrhizal fungi are a fungus that greatly increases the surface area and water absorption capacity for root systems of plants and is vital for 80% of plants to thrive (Solaiman, 2014). Mycorrhizal fungi are microscopic and easily work their way in between the loose particles of sand and clay (aggregates) in a symbiotic relationship, absorbing water and bringing it to the plant roots in exchange for energy (Solaiman, 2014). Mycorrhizal fungi need airy soils to thrive and effectively increase absorption capacity (Solaiman, 2014) so while simply mixing dry clay into sand will increase water retention, it also becomes denser, choking out the growth of fungi (Betti et al., 2016). This is because while LNC particles surround and adhere to every individual grain of sand, dry clay simply fills the gaps in-between (Desert Control, 2019). The ability of clay to retain moisture so well and remain aerated is dependant on the size of the clay particles (Betti et al., 2016). Clay is formed from the degradation of primary rock minerals into flake-like particles <0.002mm or 2000nm in diameter (Ural, 2018).  By having many small nano particles of clay, the surface area to which water molecules are electrostatically bound, increases significantly (Ural, 2018). Clay particles contain mostly negatively charged particles with two positively charged faces. The polar water molecules are electrostatically attracted to the negatively charged surface of the clay with hydrogen bonding while cation/anions (fertilizers) are drawn to the respective positive and negative parts of the clay particle (table 5) (Ural, 2018).

 

Table 6

Bonding of water and ions to a clay particle

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From Ural (2018)

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            In LNC, the homogenised dispersion of nano clay particles allows clay and sand particles to clump together in aggregates. In the case of sand dunes, when soil particles are unattached to each other the soil is described as structureless or as a single grained structure. This soil structure erodes easily. When under favourable circumstances such as when LNC is applied, the primary soil particles will tend to group themselves and associate into small units or aggregates, the soil is termed aggregated (Desert Control Institute Inc., 2007). Soil aggregates are the basic cells of soil and are important in soil fertility (Zheng, 2018). While tillage plays an important role in improving yield, it also breaks down soil aggregates and damages mycorrhizal fungi, exposing organic matter and nutrients to erosion (Zheng, 2018). One treatment of Liquid NanoClay will last up to five years on tilled farmland or up to 20 years on unworked soil (Desert Control, 2019). This is because working the soil breaks down the aggregates formed by the nano clay and sand particles, quickly returning the soil to its original sandy state.

           

            Depending on what the customer plans on growing, the nano clay will be saturated into the sand anywhere from 30-60 cm. After the soil has been saturated for six to seven hours, what was once sand now has many of the same properties as productive soil (Desert Control, 2019). To prevent erosion and further desertification it is best to first plant a grass or grain on the LNC treated soil. This is because grasses or grain require minimal to no tillage, has a large build up of organic matter that is important in soil fertility and aggregate health and have integrated root systems, providing optimal soil protection against erosion (Hawkins 2017). Since grasses are C4 plants, meaning they have adapted ways to continue photosynthesis in dryer conditions than most plants, they are able to withstand more arid climates such that of Yemen (Zhou and Lambrides, 2013). Once grasses have established it is important to have a planned grazing system to prevent the over grazing of land leading to even further desertification. The livestock will consume vegetation and trample fertilizer into the soil allowing for organic matter build up. This process takes years, but it is an important step to achieving good soil health while avoiding erosion (Hawkins 2017).

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Environmental Benefit

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            By reclaiming the hyper arid deserts of Yemen, LNC poses many significant environmental benefits to combat climate change. First and foremost, this ground-breaking product offers an extraordinary water savings, saving from 50-70% of the watering needed for a crop to reach harvest (Desert Control, 2019). By saving 50-70% of the water needed to reach harvest, more water will be left over for drinking sanitation or it could be used to double the farmers land base. LNC would help to expand arable land of the west to the more eastern provinces of Sa’adah, Al Jawf, Marib and Shabwah on the eastern edge of the desert plains (Zaken, 2018). It is best to start in the east of Yemen and work towards the western desert plains because vegetation brings cooler temperatures and increased precipitation with it as microclimates are established. Vegetation, weather and climate are linked. This is demonstrated by the fact that when an area is subject to desertification, climate in that area becomes hotter with less precipitation, oppositely, the repopulation of vegetation will lower surface temperature and eventually increasing precipitation in an area (Bonan et al., 2003). Plants expel water vapour during photosynthesis, the water vapor potentially forms clouds and blocks out some sun light and can potentially lead to precipitation. This feedback loop is important to understand when assessing climate change because just as desertification increases temperature and decreases precipitation, vegetation will have the opposite effect (Bonan et al., 2003). This could also be applied to the extreme deserts along the coast of the Red sea and the Gulf of Aden to limit soil erosion into the sea and provide vegetation to capture water runoff (Zaken, 2018). By growing green plants on what was once desert, LNC has the potential to lower surface temperatures of deserts by 15°C. This will reduce evaporation also allowing more water to stay in the ground. LNC will allow plants to grow where they otherwise could not, providing the added benefit of storing up to 15-25 tons of CO2 per desert hectare, so if enough land is treated, it could capture huge amounts of CO2 out of our atmosphere, further reducing climate change (Desert Control, 2019). By restoring degraded soils worldwide there is the opportunity to store up to 5.5 billion tons of CO2 out of our atmospheres (Desert Control, 2019).  

 

Economical Benefit

            LNC would not only bring food security for people of Yemen, but it may even put Yemen on the map for trade (International Monetary Fund, 2007). Crops grown on liquid nano clay will potentially have up to 40% higher yields (European Commission, 2019). In some cases, in tests in Egypt, yields were measured to have increased by 416% (European Commission, 2019). With a fast-growing population, stimulating the agriculture sector would open many new job opportunities (International Monetary Fund, 2007). Once food security and potentially an economy is established in Yemen, conflict based on food scarcity will subside (Theisen, 2012). By turning Deserts green LNC directly contributes to eleven of the united nations sustainability goals, goals 2,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,15 and 17 (Desert Control, 2019). Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, Goal 8:Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13: Climate Action, Goal 14: Life Below Water, Goal 15: Life on Land, and most importantly Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals because it ensures that as many people benefit from LNC as possible (United Nations, 2020).

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Similar Technologies

            There are similar products developed (Vundavalli, 2014) that essentially work the same way to increase the water retention in sand substrate. The method of mixing dry clay and sand has shown positive effects in reclaiming desert and has been effective for thousands of years but it is extremely labour intensive to mix it down to the proper depth and requires up to 10x the amount  of clay as LNC (Desert Control, 2019). LNC only requires 13% of the amount of clay used in the old dry mixing method and achieves the same benefits together with an immediate binding of the sand particles (Desert Control Institute Inc., 2007). Clay delving is a process that involves using mechanical force to mix clayish layers of subsoil into the topsoil to increase the water retention of the sandy topsoil. Spreading clay simply involves spreading clay onto the surface of a field and then working it in, to incorporate it into the topsoil. This can be beneficial if substantial amounts of clay are close to the field and proper machinery is available to mix the soil to a depth of at least 60cm (Desert Control, 2019). Clay delving in texture contrast soils and clay spreading in sandy subsoils is usually known to increase water retention thus leading to higher yields but often has a negative effect because of the decreased soil aeration (Betti et al., 2016). As clay particle size decreases, water retention and availability of water to plants increases (Betti et al., 2016). Since LNC particles are approximately 1.5 nm thick it allows for optimal water retention when compared to clay found in subsoil (Desert Control, 2019).  

 

            Super absorbent polymers will potentially have a water uptake of up to 100,000% which is extremely effective at keeping the water at root levels where the plants can access it (Desert Control, 2019). However, the issue is polymers are expensive and difficult to incorporate into the soil at root level much like spreading clay, it would be labour intensive and costly (Desert Control, 2019). Super Absorbent polymers have proven to be effective when used with planting concrete (concrete without fine aggregates) to reduce effects of desertification and soil erosion along side highways and rivers (Li et al., 2017). Biochar is charcoal and is used as a soil additive that has the ability to increase water retention in soils because of its porous structure (Desert Control, 2019). Like charcoal, biochar is made through the pyrolysis of biomass (Desert Control, 2019). Biochar is becoming increasingly more popular as the chemical and physical composition of biochar are known to drastically improve yields because of its ability to maintain soil aeration to permit growth of fungi while increasing water retention (Abel et al., 2013).  Biobaskets are baskets made to enclose the roots of what is being grown in its own undisturbed ecosystem to contain as much water and nutrients in the root depth as possible (Desert Control, 2019). All the described technologies above present effective water holding properties to allow plant growth but lack the ease of installation and application to a large enough scale for the state Yemen is in (Desert Control, 2019). Opposed to the technologies above, LNC is implemented more easily because rather than mechanical force and mixing, water is simply the delivery mechanism to quickly and easily apply the required substrate to the optimal depth (Desert Control, 2019).

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IMPLEMENTATION INTO YEMEN

Preparation

           

            It has been attempted to mix clay particles and water and pour it over the sand before, but it only resulted in the formation of a hard-thick crust of clay on the top of the sand (Desert Control, 2019). Desert control found a way to disperse the natural clay aggregates into nano particles and suspending them in the water by percolating the mixture with air bubbles so that when poured over sand they will filtrate into the sand to a greater depth, incorporating the clay more sustainably and efficiently into the sand (Desert Control Institute Inc., 2007). Desert control also received a grant of €50,000 from the European commission in aid of a €2.5 million budget to develop a more efficient and transportable mixing device to processing clays into nano particles (European Commission, 2019). To prepare the mixture onsite, there must first be access to fresh water and clay.

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Retrieved from https://www.desertcontrol.com/faq 

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Cost Analysis of Implementing in Yemen

           

            Since liquid nano clay is still relatively new and was only released to public late 2019 the cost to prepare and apply it is still expensive at $1,800-$9,500 USD per hectare (2.4 acres) of desert. However, costs vary depending upon the size of the project and are expected to come down as the LNC becomes more mass produced (Desert Control, 2019). Using these figures and considering Yemen’s area of 527,970 km2 (NAPA Yemen, 2010). It would cost upwards of US $3 B to reclaim just 1% of Yemen. Considering the GDP per capita is only US $893/year, Yemeni farmers are not prepared to make this type of investment (NAPA Yemen, 2010). Since the 1990 political dispute began, Yemen’s economy never fully recovered (Colton, 2010). Due to this economic disadvantage, Yemen will never be able to afford this type of investment in the near future. Luckily, Desert Control is willing to work with local governments so that this technology can be applied all over the world to countries in need and is willing to make it at a more affordable price when dealing with developing countries (Desert Control, 2019). The success of LNC as demonstrations in United Emirates speaks for itself (Desert Control, 2019). The market for nano technologies is a fast-growing industry, assessed to be worth over 3.3 billion by 2023 (Transparency Market Research, 2020). In 2011 and 2012 Yemen received €20 million from the European commission to fund food, water and sanitation, health care, tents and basic household items (European Report, 2012). Global Agriculture and Food Security Program provides grants to countries in need to stimulate agriculture and food security especially where it is needed most, in small holder farmers who produce 80% of the world’s food. Between 2013 and 2019 Climate Investment Funds/World Bank donated $19 million USD (USAID, 2019). In 2012 Yemen received $50 million USD towards food security and small holder farmers. With $50 Million USD, Yemen could use this money to supply around 450,000 small holder farmers with a treatment of LNC assuming the average small holder farmer farms about 2 hectares (Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, 2020). $50 million would be enough money to reclaim 900,000 hectares of desert which to put into terms, is only 56% of southern Ontario (OMAFRA, 2016). Those 900,000 hectares should be on the edge of the desert in provinces of Sa’adah, Al Jawf, Marib and Shabwah to have the best effect. Another way farmers would be able to afford this investment is by creating a share-crop arrangement, where if enough farmers are willing, could pool their money together to crop x amount of acres and sharing the profit of the crop (Overland, 2020).

 

            While this product is being sold and applied commercially, LNC still has some barriers to overcome before being ready to take on the desert of Yemen (Desert Control, 2019). Transportation and application teams also need to be addressed before beginning mass application. The closest abundant source of clays to Yemen is in Jordan where many types of clay are abundant (Khoury, 2019). Transportation to Yemen will likely involve using the Red sea shipping rout. The red sea shipping rout is very important because it connects the Mediterranean to the Indian ocean via the Suez Canal and 20% of all global trade passes through the Red sea. In 2016 alone more than 17000 vessels containing over 820 million tons of cargo passed through the red sea, concluding that the Red sea is a well established shipping rout that could easily be used to provide the clay from Jordan to the sandy soils of Yemen (Friedman, 2018). By opening more shipping routs through the red sea, more jobs would likely result. Based on $50 million grant money, 900,000 hectares and 1kg of nano clay per m2, calculated from before, it would require 9 million tons of nano clay to attain this goal. The next thing Yemen needs to have access to in order to make LNC is fresh water. Fresh water in Yemen can either come from already depleting wells or it can be harvested when big rains come. If rain harvesting systems are already in effect in a close area to the field sites, that would be a cheap and efficient way to acquire fresh water (Varisco, 2019). Once all the materials are acquired, people with the knowledge and expertise must be available mix the LNC and apply it to the land. This is an area which has not been explored but presents many promising job opportunities for locals to promote local empowerment as well as LNC experts that can train people how to use it (Desert Control, 2019).

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RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

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Recommendations

           

            For many years, agricultural communities around the world have struggled in ways of incorporating clay into their sandy soils. Desert control technology has facilitated this process by using 90% less clay and a third of the water (Desert Control, 2019). Traditional methods require a lot of labor and can take years, however, LNC greatly facilitates this process by turning sand to soil in just 7 hours (Desert Control, 2019). The novelty of Liquid Nano Clay in Yemen and most of the world is a huge obstacle in terms making an immediate impact on desertification and providing aid to developing countries. This technology only has the ability to change the deserts of Yemen into farmland practically overnight if enough people were involved and aware of liquid Nano Clay. Unless there is awareness of LNC and its benefits, desertification will continue to take its toll on Yemeni agriculture, economy and unrest. If interested in LNC more details can be found at Desert Control.com or call 919 415 630 (Desert Control, 2019).

Conclusion

           

            Liquid Nano Clay may be the start of a new era where we look to the massive deserts in this world for prime agricultural land. By turning Yemen’s sands back to soil, the implementation of Liquid Nano Clay has the potential to make a huge and lasting impact on agriculture systems in Yemen.

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