Online Reporter
Sifelani Tsiko
Fact Check Editor
Nearly 1,7 billion people live in areas where crop yields are falling because of human-induced land degradation – a pervasive and silent crisis that is undermining agricultural productivity and threatening ecosystem health worldwide, a new report reveals.
According to the latest State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) released recently, land degradation is not just an environmental issue – it impacts agricultural productivity, rural livelihoods and food security.
The report estimates that around 1,7 billion people worldwide live in areas where crop yields are 10 percent lower due to human-induced land degradation.
Of these, 47 million are children under five years of age who are suffering from stunting. Asian countries are the most affected, both because of their accumulated degradation debt and their high population densities.
“To seize these opportunities, we must act decisively. Sustainable land management requires enabling environments that support long-term investment, innovation and stewardship,” FAO director-general QU Dongyu wrote in the report’s foreword.
SOFA 2025 provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of how human-driven land degradation impacts crop yields, identifies global vulnerability hotspots and examines where these losses intersect with poverty, hunger and other forms of malnutrition.
Drawing on the most recent global data on farm distribution, sizes and crop production, the report outlines actionable opportunities for integrated sustainable land-use and management practices, alongside tailored policies.
These measures aim to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation while improving food production and farmers’ livelihoods.
Across the African continent, soils are under threat as 40 percent are degraded, especially due to erosion, nutrient depletion, organic matter decline, as well as loss of biodiversity, posing a grave threat to the region’s food security and long-term agricultural productivity.
Soils in Africa have been degraded over time and experts say they have not been used properly.
“There cannot be agriculture without soil health. Our economies depend on this important natural asset,” an agricultural expert warned.
“So, we have to manage this asset sustainably in order to survive and empower future generations.”
