Why in news?
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its State of Food and Agriculture 2025 report. This annual publication examines the health of global food systems. The 2025 edition warns that human‑induced land degradation is shrinking crop yields and threatening food security for billions of people. It calls for urgent action to restore degraded lands and reform agricultural practices.
Background
The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) is one of the FAO’s flagship reports. It analyses how agriculture interacts with the environment, economy and society. The 2025 report uses a new methodology that measures land degradation as the difference between current productivity and the potential productivity of land. It assesses cropland, grassland and forest areas to determine how much of the world’s food‑producing land has been degraded by human activities such as unsustainable farming, deforestation and pollution.
Key findings
- 1.7 billion people affected: The report estimates that around 1.7 billion people live in areas where cropland yields are falling because of human‑induced land degradation.
- Regional hotspots: Southern and eastern Asia host some of the largest populations on degraded croplands. High population density and intensive agriculture have eroded soils and reduced productivity.
- Potential gains from restoration: Reversing just 10 percent of degraded cropland could produce enough food to feed an additional 154 million people. This demonstrates that land restoration is more cost‑effective than expanding cultivation into natural ecosystems.
- Agricultural expansion drives deforestation: The report highlights that much of global deforestation is linked to expanding agriculture into forests and savannas. Clearing land for crops and pasture accelerates soil erosion, biodiversity loss and greenhouse‑gas emissions.
- Targeted policies: The FAO urges governments to adopt policies that both avoid and reverse degradation. These include conservation agriculture, agro‑forestry, integrated pest management and support for small farmers. The report emphasises that policies should differ by farm size: smallholder farmers need training and finance to adopt sustainable practices, while large farms require stricter regulation.
Why it matters
Food security is increasingly threatened by climate change and soil exhaustion. Land degradation reduces yields, increases input costs and pushes farmers to clear more forests. By restoring degraded land, countries can boost productivity without expanding agriculture into fragile ecosystems. The SOFA 2025 report highlights that sustainable land management is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to zero hunger, poverty reduction and climate action.