irrigation is progress, engineering the movement of available fresh water to where it otherwise wouldn't be makes like better and easier for everyone.
why do deserts even still exist? california has been complaining about water shortages since the 1980s, but they still dump enormous amounts of fresh water into the ocean and california still has large deserts and substantial poverty. oregon is even worse, half the state is uninhabited desert and the other half gets so much rain that flooding is a problem, but nobody does shit about shifting the excess water to where it could be useful instead of annoying.
its all uncivilized and totally retarded.

<--meanwhile in africa