FAO State of Food and Agriculture 2025: Land Degradation
Why in the news
FAO’s latest annual flagship report looks at human-caused land degradation and shows how it hurts food output, soils and climate resilience for both small and large farms.
Key facts
- Report: The State of Food and Agriculture 2025, published by FAO, Rome.
- About 20% of global cropland has declining productivity.
- Yield gaps in 10 major crops reach up to 70% in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
- Land degradation costs roughly USD 300 billion a year.
- From 1992–2015, 60 million hectares of cropland were abandoned.
- Only 15% of agricultural investment goes to sustainable land management.
| Indicator | Figure in SOFA 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cropland with falling productivity | Nearly 20% |
| Yield gap, 10 major crops (SSA, South Asia) | Up to 70% below potential |
| Farms under 2 ha | 84% of farms, 12% of farmland |
| Top 1% of farms | Over 70% of farmland |
| Abandoned cropland, 1992–2015 | 60 million hectares |
| Annual cost of degradation | About USD 300 billion |
| Tree cover loss / biomass carbon loss | 30% / 20% |
| Soil erosion | Fourfold rise |
| Effect of 10% rise in degradation debt | Yield gap worsens by 2% |
About the report
- Annual flagship assessment of global agrifood systems, theme: human-induced land degradation across landholding scales.
- Aims to guide policy to avoid, reduce and reverse degradation.
Gaps and failures
- Poorer countries lack satellite and technical monitoring; Inner Mongolia’s grazing management is a success example.
- Despite USD 19 billion pledged under efforts like the Great Green Wall, donor fragmentation and weak alignment hold back results.
- Restoration seldom fits SDG 13 and SDG 8; indigenous stewardship stays marginal.
Key challenges
- Land inequality limits fair access to restoration funds.
- Investment deficit in sustainable land management.
- Fragmented land, water and energy policy.
- Data gaps in soil carbon, biodiversity and erosion.
- Droughts and floods speed up degradation in semi-arid zones.
FAO recommendations
- Scale-specific action: payments for ecosystem services for smallholders; stricter fertilizer and monocropping rules for large farms.
- Boost restoration investment via carbon farming, regenerative agriculture and public-private partnerships.
- Back gender-inclusive, community-led and indigenous restoration.
- Create a real-time Global Land Degradation Data Hub.
- Align restoration with SDG 2, SDG 13 and SDG 15.
Exam angle
- Publisher: FAO (Rome); annual flagship report.
- SDG link: SDG 15.3 Land Degradation Neutrality.
- Tool: GAEZ v5 datasets; new Global Land Degradation Data Hub proposed.
- Funding pledge: USD 19 billion for initiatives like the Great Green Wall.