We know that most of the desert countries are economically backward countries. Some desert countries make much of revenue by exporting oil but agrarians, cattle rearers and nomads are also seen in those countries. Though it is difficult to do agriculture and animal rearing in deserts, there are possibilities to improve economical and environmental conditions in desert. From Thar desert in east to Sahara desert in west, we can see many zones covered with desert terrains but we can see fertile lands in basins of rivers like Sindh, Tigris and Euphrates. Though river Nile flows through desert lands of Egypt and northern Sudan, it couldn’t make desert lands much fertile. Those low fertile lands also helped agrarians and cattle rearers in those deserts. Banks of river Nile in Egypt are densely populated areas but other areas are very sparsely populated because most of the area of Egypt is covered with highly sandy terrains where it is almost impossible to do agriculture. We should also remember that all the deserts are not highly sandy terrains. There are also semi-deserts where better living conditions are seen compared to highly sandy deserts. For example: Kalahari desert that is located in souther zone of Africa has better fauna and flora compared to other deserts. Even lions and other big wild animals live in that desert. Highly sandy deserts also have oases that can feed water to few people, animals and herbs. Semi-deserts can be made more fertile if irrigation canals (distributaries) are constructed from dams on rivers in fertile areas to desert areas. For example: Construction of new canals from Yamuna and Sutlej to Thar desert can make parts of Thar desert fertile. Construction of new dams and irrigation canals on river Nile in deserts of Egypt and northern Sudan can make parts of those deserts fertile.
Nomadic tribes are also seen in deserts who wander from place to place in search of food and livelihood. Desert nomads are also seen Thar desert of India. Their lives can be stablised if conditions for agriculture and cattle rearing are improved in desert zones.
Nomadic people living in Thar desertIn modern economy, there is a new way to improve infrastructure in deserts. It is easy to maintain solar power generation stations in deserts. Solar power plants transform sunlight into electricity and electricity generated in those stations can be supplied to desert hamlets and high power transmission lines can be also installed from power stations in desert areas to other zones.