Conservative estimates state that the world is losing 24 billion tons of fertile soil each year. That’s 3.4 tons lost every year for every person on the planet. In Africa alone, land degradation affects 67% of agricultural lands, with about 490 million hectares showing erosion and declining vegetation. Left unchecked, this will have huge impact on food security and human and environmental health.
Already over the last 50 years land and soil degradation have reduced crop yields and the agricultural share of gross domestic product by 9-10%. We mask this crisis with increasing agricultural inputs, but this can bring other problems: loss of other ecosystem services, pollution, and ever increasing energy demands to support agricultural production.
Original post by Deborah Bossio.
Photo: Restoring degraded soils in Kenya, Neil Palmer
