'UN Report: 34 percent of agricultural land is degraded, water is overdrawn.'
The land and water resources farmers rely on are today stressed to"a breaking point" even as almost 10 percent of the eight billion people on earth are already undernourished with three billion lacking healthy diets. And by 2050 there will be two billion more mouths to feed, warns a new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization .
A changing climate"may bring opportunities for multiple rainfed cropping, particularly in the tropics and subtropics." And for areas"where the climate becomes marginal for current staple and niche crops, there are alternative annual and perennial tree crops, livestock, and soil and water management options available."
The FAO reports also that globally, agriculture accounts for 72 percent of all surface and groundwater withdrawals, mainly for irrigation, which is depleting groundwater aquifers in many regions. Global groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture increased by about 20 percent over the past decade alone.Similarly, the quality of 13 percent of global soil, including 34 percent of agricultural land, has been degraded.
Here too, it's not all bad news: agricultural productivity is expected to increase in regions that are currently relatively cold, but decrease in places that are hotter and drier, especially as climate change exacerbates droughts.As with others, farmers will need to adapt to the changing climate, and making those adaptations can be expensive.
Second, implementing integrated solutions at scale, for example by helping farmers use available resources more efficiently while minimizing the associated adverse environmental impacts and also building resilience to climate change.
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