In June, Barbut spoke at a UN convention in Beijing, where the Joint Action Initiative to combat desertification, rehabilitate degraded land and mitigate the effects of drought was launched. The initiative aims to make China's ambitious rejuvenation of the old Silk Road environmentally sustainable.

The Belt and Road Initiative plans to boost economies from China, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean to parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. But these plans could prove futile as many of the countries involved in the initiative are affected by desertification and drought.

Barbut earlier called for the international community to come up with long-term solutions to "battle the ravages of drought and flood which are destroying communities". She warned that drought and floods devastate families and destabilize communities because they lead to mass migrations, leaving the vulnerable open to human rights abuses and long-term security threats.

She also believes China's experience in helping revive the health of deserts could benefit initiatives such as Africa's Great Green Wall, a project that aims to grow 8,000 km of trees and plants across the width of the continent to provide food and jobs.

The author is an online editor of South African newspaper Weekend Argus.