The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published what is being seen as a landmark report highlighting what it sees as the worsening state of the earth’s soil, land and water resources, and the challenges that this poses for feeding a global population expected to approach ten billion by 2050.
“The pressures on soil, land and water ecosystems are now intense, and many are stressed to a critical point,” FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu wrote in the foreword to the synthesis report titled “The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture – Systems at breaking point (SOLAW 2021).” “Against this background, it is clear that our future food security will depend on safeguarding our land, soil and water resources,” the FAO Director General wrote.
