Even in the face of record-low food reserves, cropland continues to be paved over and degraded worldwide, a situation that threatens the food security of millions. Cities devour farmaldn for housing, industry, and recreation. Irrigated land shrinks as ground-water is depleted and water is diverted to urban areas.
Erosion makes vast areas non-productive.
And a growing share of remaining farmland is planted in non-food crops suchs as cotton and coffee. Loss of cropland was little noticed in the past 40 years as yields rose rapidly. But today, slowing yield growth no longer offsets land losses, as the world faces a hung increase in food demand. Meanwhile, governments overestimate the potential for agricultural expansion, ususally by counting land on which cultivation would not be sustainable. Once policymakers see cropland as a strategic resource, remedies are straighforward.