Another guy did projects further South but still muslim and the way he put it was; "They just can't be bothered".
Of course the USA has had it's issues like the dust bowl but that wasn't from laziness. That was from over-actively working the soil with machines and leaving it bare too often. Humus takes years to develop and we can wipe it out in mere months.
Greening the Desert project in Jordan. He's never worked it full time, year round. Started out with less vegetation than the first pic. This is about the hardest place on earth to renew. Below sea level, highly salted soils. The locals freaked out one time about something growing under the mulch. Mushrooms or fungus.
The area now fenced in supplies people inside and some outside with fruits and veggies. Some people outside the project have started working on the same thing. Not a huge project but proof that desert can have green stuff and shade and produce food. Most of the trees produce food too. He started out by cutting swales on contour to catch what little rain they get and planted drought tolerant trees on the back side of the swales. Then food producing understory trees and food producing ground vegetation. The locals thought he was crazy for not going in straight lines.
I think it makes more sense to start at the edge of where land is being turned into desert and try to reverse the loss, especially on the edge that gives afternoon shade.
My project is different. Turning 14 acres of hilly forest into partly shaded pasture. Without losing top soil.