The pressure on soil resources will increase with a population growth of 3 billion by 2030, FAO said. Over one quarter of the world's land area is affected by desertification. Degradation is a potential threat to half of the world's poor people who live in dryland areas with fragile soils and unreliable rain, especially in Africa. Declining soil fertility has a severe impact globally and, in Africa, average yield losses are estimated at 8 percent, with up to 50 percent productivity losses in certain areas. Traditional systems of land use are either breaking down or are no longer appropriate due to population pressure, and the management and technology needed to replace them is often not being applied.
Land degradation reduces land quality and has a major impact on biodiversity.
Many inland water ecosystems and their fishery resources and biodiversity are seriously threatened by urban and industrial growth, deforestation and agro-chemicals. About 25 percent of the world's wetlands have already been lost, due largely to conversion to agriculture or diversion of water for agriculture and aquaculture. This may lead to flooding, groundwater depletion, salt-water intrusion into aquifers, water pollution and salinization, FAO warned. Land degradation is closely linked to poverty in developing countries. Poverty is both a consequence of land degradation and one of the causes.