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In a world which will be home to 9 billion people by the middle of this century, it will undoubtedly be a substantial challenge for humanity to produce enough food and other vital resources. Today there are tens of millions of hungry living in Africa. These people are missing not just food and potable water but also tap water, sewage, electricity, jobs and other living amenities. This research focused on addressing these issues. One of the main problems identified for the mid-21st century will be the availability of fresh water. Currently, appx. 20% of the world´s fresh water is stored in manmade reservoirs. However, these reservoirs sediment over time. This "sediment phenomena" adversely affects the water volume in reservoirs and their sustainable maintenance, potentially jeopardizing the fresh water supply. To answer the "sediment phenomena", this book developed a whole new approach to a no less devastating problem: the increasing desertification and land degradation. In arid regions, sediments are mostly composed of alluvial soil, decomposing organic matter and sands, making them indeed a perfect soil amendment.

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Tanaskovic, Vesela
As a renowned scientist and nature lover, Vesela founded Afforest for Future, an NGO focused on transforming the world´s deserts into food forests, based on her PhD research published here. She is an alumna of the Technical University of Vienna, University of Nis and of the prestigious GSP of the Singularity University, NASA Ames, CA USA.

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