Land Degradation: A Threat to Food Security: A Global Assessment

Abstract

Ever since mankind started agriculture, land degradation has been a single largest threat to soil productivity and has remained so till date. This has been a major global issue during the 20^th century and will remain high on the international agenda in the 21^st century. The study is basically the assessment of the impact of land degradation on soil loss through productivity loss and hence it effect on global food security. A major problem confronting many countries today is the inadequacy of food supply in the face of rapidly growing population. In many countries, the task of producing enough food for the teeming population has received considerable policy attention. Nevertheless, the growth rate of food production is still far below the population growth rate. This is brought about by land degradation. Experts in the field of economics, geography, soil science and agricultural development, as well as environmental management have a duty to draw the attention of policy makers to soil degradation problem and work with them to set priorities for public investment in land degradation problems. A policy framework to mitigate land degradation problems can be tackled at the national, regional and international levels, and also by the land users (the farmers) themselves and by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

Keywords: Land degradation, food security,  global threat