Crossword Genius

Barren region with dearths — area's suffering (6,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sahara desert

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'barren region' is the definition.
'Sahara Desert' can be an answer for 'region' (Sahara Desert is an example). I'm unsure of the 'barren' bit.

'with dearths area's suffering' is the wordplay.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'suffering' is an anagram indicator.
'dearths'+'areas' is 'dearthsareas'.
'dearthsareas' is an anagram of 'SAHARA DESERT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sahara desert that I've seen before include "Uncultivated region of north Africa" , "World's largest sandy area" , "Dry region of Africa" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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