desertify

desert +‎ -ify

desertify (third-person singular simple present desertifies, present participle desertifying, simple past and past participle desertified)

1. (intransitive, of a geographical region) To become desert.
2. (transitive) To cause (a geographical region) to become desert.
   • 2020, Medina Tenour Whiteman, The Invisible Muslim: Journeys Through Whiteness and Islam:

     Part of the genius of Andalusi filahah was its water management, still light years ahead of industrialised modern agriculture, which decimates forests for high-output farms that dry up streams and springs and desertifies fertile terrain.

• desertification