Officials note that the world population is expected to increase by more than twenty-five percent during the next twenty years. The study found that the destruction of soil is widespread. Important organic nutrients are being removed from farmland. Officials say soil damage during the past twenty to thirty years probably has decreased agricultural production by thirteen percent. The report says such damage will have the greatest effect in poor countries with large populations.
Agriculture uses seventy percent of the freshwater in the world each year.
The study found that many farmers are wasting water supplies. In addition, chemicals designed to protect crops may pollute waterways. The report also says as much as thirty percent of the world s forests have been cut down so the land could be used for agriculture. This has led to a severe loss of wildlife and their environments. Stanley Wood is a scientist with the International Food Policy Research Institute.