Published on: 2026-07-11
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
These three Russian regions were chosen not by chance. Dagestan, Kalmykia, and Astrakhan Oblast are among the territories where desertification, land degradation, and drought have a particularly severe impact on the land and people. They differ in geography, culture, and traditions, but together face surprisingly similar land-use problems and have accumulated practical knowledge applicable far beyond the boundaries of any single landscape.
Grasslands cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface and provide livelihoods for about two billion people. As climate change, drought, and land degradation increase pressure on these ecosystems, the restoration and sustainable management of grasslands are becoming one of the most important global priorities.
Farms, mobile scientific stations, agricultural exhibitions, and processing enterprises — on the Russian route, the Caravan participants saw how practical work on land restoration is being carried out: from soil analysis, breed selection, and sand fixation to supporting small farms and knowledge exchange. Along the entire way, the centuries-old heritage of pasture and nomadic culture met the achievements of modern science, forming practical models of sustainable agriculture.
Dagestan: ancient traditions of hospitality
Dagestan is one of Russia’s key agricultural regions, although about 40 percent of its territory is mountainous. Almost a third of the republic’s population works in agriculture, and the land here is not just an economic resource, but the foundation of life.
The Dagestan segment of the Caravan was special also because shortly before its arrival, the republic experienced a serious natural ordeal: severe floods following heavy rains, the evacuation of thousands of people, and dozens of flooded settlements. Despite this, Dagestan welcomed the Caravan warmly and hospitably, contributing its own experience in the search for common solutions on how to combat desertification and keep the land productive for those who live off its fruits.
For centuries in Dagestan, a guest from a neighboring village brought news, stories, and knowledge and then set off again, carrying a fresh load of news. The honored guest – kunak – became part of an ancient way of life based on a code of mutual trust and support. This tradition accompanied the Caravan throughout its visit to Dagestan. Participants were invited not just to watch, but to exchange experiences, knowledge, and opinions.
In the Buynaksk district, Karavan visited one of the large breeding farms housing over a thousand heads of cattle. This is a vivid example of how the hardy steppe breed can adapt to mountainous conditions, including seasonal drives to pastures at altitudes of 1500–2000 meters. Such experience demonstrates a practical method of pasture-based animal husbandry: breeding animals adapted to local conditions, not limiting production to raw materials, developing local processing, and strengthening the region’s food security.
Photo by the UN. In Dagestan, the Caravan received an unforgettable welcome.
Another example of a rural initiative was the “Peach Island” – a family project that transformed a plot near the Chirkey Reservoir into an orchard. Today, about a thousand fruit trees grow here: peaches, apricots, apple trees, cherries, sweet cherries, figs, hazelnuts, and grapes. The project reveals another facet of Dagestan’s agricultural potential – the ability of family labor to restore soil fertility, create a place of hospitality, and strengthen the connection with the native land.
In Dagestan, Caravan also saw the technical infrastructure without which farming labor is impossible, although it rarely becomes the focus of public attention. Shamil Aliev, head of the Dagestan branch of the Russian State Agrochemical Service, spoke about annual land surveys, soil analyses, checks of water and fertilizers, quality assessments of feed, support for vineyards and orchards, and projects to improve the land. In 2026, the branch plans to survey 42 thousand hectares in Dagestan.
For a republic with nearly one million heads of large livestock and about five million heads of small cattle, the quality of feed is crucial. It determines the animals’ health, farm productivity, and farmers’ decisions on pasture management, feed base development, and investments.
Vyacheslav Leonov, Director of the Department of Land Policy, Property Relations and State Ownership at the Ministry of Agriculture, spoke about support measures intended for small farmers and family farms. This support is highly practical: grants assist those who want to start or expand an agribusiness – a livestock farm, cheese factory, winery, or rural tourism project. The “Agrostartup” grant provides an opportunity to start a business; successfully operating farms can qualify for larger grants for family farms – provided the business is developing, proving its viability, and creating jobs in rural areas. The state does not take any ownership share, Leonov emphasized. The aim of such support is to help people who want to work the land, finance a viable plan, and establish themselves for the long term.
Kalmykia: a green shield against advancing sands
From Dagestan, the Caravan headed to Kalmykia – one of the driest and most desertification-prone regions of Russia. In the Black Lands, the annual precipitation may amount to only 150–200 millimeters. The pastures here cover millions of hectares, but shifting sands and desertification remain a daily challenge – a reminder of the growing global pressure on arid lands.
It is here that researchers demonstrated how juzgun, also known as Calligonum, helps restore lands and anchor shifting sands. In the area of the Artesian settlement, the juzgun plantings carried out in 2020 and 2024 noticeably slowed the advance of the sands and helped stabilize the soil.
The survival rate of zhužgun reaches 95–96 percent. This makes it a powerful ally in combating wind erosion and provides protection for other plants. Over time, vegetation returns between the rows, including forage plants for livestock. What begins as sand stabilization can become the first step toward making degraded pastures suitable for agricultural use again.
To develop this direction, mobile research teams travel to areas affected by desertification: they assess the degree of degradation, prepare restoration plans, and conduct scientific monitoring to understand how the land responds to restoration measures. Students from Kalmyk State University also participate in this work – they study land restoration not from textbooks, but directly in the field.
When a Caravan participant, Jacob Lekaytogo—a pastoral livestock farmer and youth activist from Kenya—planted a jujube seedling during the welcome ceremony, the gesture might at first have seemed modest: one plant, one patch of sand, one pair of hands. But it precisely embodied the meaning of the entire journey.
“Local residents know best what solution will work for their problems,” Lekaitogo said.
Kalmykia has become a living laboratory for Caravan in land restoration: here the sands are held back bush by bush, pastures are brought back to life, and local experience is relevant far beyond the region.
The livestock breeding exhibition in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, became another important platform for knowledge exchange. Researchers, government officials, practitioners, students, and Caravan participants discussed approaches to combating desertification, pasture management, and rural development. The conclusions presented at the round table on combating desertification and land degradation in Russia will also be taken into account in the preparation of the CS-17 events in Ulaanbaatar in August 2026.
UN photo Astrakhan region welcomes Asmaa Niang.
Astrakhan Region: when restored pasture feeds the future
In the Astrakhan region, by the Caspian Sea, the Caravan found itself in a landscape where pasture is not just an economic resource. It is a space where generations of people live, care for the land, raise livestock, and build the future.
Throughout the Astrakhan region, pasture lands are closely connected with rural life. The First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Astrakhan Region, Andrey Timofeev, described these lands as the everyday space of labor and the support of rural communities, where people engage in animal husbandry and invest in food production.
Where shifting sands once left almost no room for grazing, restoration with juzgun helped make the land productive: grasses and fodder plants are reappearing, livestock have places to graze, and the new generation of farmers has more reasons to stay on the land. Without this work, Timofeev warns, the pastures face desertification, wind erosion, and becoming barren.
This knowledge and experience, gathered throughout the Caravan’s journey, will also be discussed at the CS-17 CFS UN in Mongolia. At the conference, governments, scientists, pastoral herders, and land management specialists will exchange practical solutions for land restoration, drought resilience, and pastureland conservation.
Seeds of Knowledge: What the Caravan Takes With It
The Caravan’s journey through southern Russia showed that land restoration is not a one-off solution, but a chain of efforts in which behind each link stand labor, knowledge, and responsibility. Farmers breed breeds adapted to local conditions; laboratories study soils, water, and feed; scientists fix sands bush by bush; students undergo field practice; entrepreneurs create agro-startups; communities preserve knowledge that no satellite map can replace.
Among the participants of the Caravan was Asmaa Niang – an activist with the UNCCD Sport4Land initiative fighting desertification. The Moroccan judoka, a two-time Olympian and six-time African champion, brought to the Caravan team the spirit of endurance, the discipline of high-level sport, and the conviction that the fight to restore lands also requires strategy, resilience, and determination.
The journey also revealed how important it is to preserve traditional knowledge. Karavan participant from Kyrgyzstan Kuluipa Akmatova spoke about how deeply culture depends on the living environment. When a local horse breed, an endemic plant, or an alpine pasture disappears, the knowledge accumulated over centuries disappears with them.
According to Akmatova, traditions need to be documented, transmitted, and applied, not preserved only as folklore. If young people are to inherit the landscapes of their ancestors, they must receive practical tools to apply the inherited knowledge in new conditions.
When the Caravan continued its journey, carrying saddlebags full of stories and wisdom, the image of the zhuzgun remained a symbol of travel. Its seeds, adapted to life among shifting sands, wander for a long time until they find a place to cling to and provide support for what must grow next.
Knowledge travels the same way. It can cover vast distances – and, finding its place, take root and bear fruit.
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