A strategy has been launched at the Cop16 climate conference in Riyadh to address the consequences of land degradation on food security amid concerns that over-cultivation could result in dwindling crop yields and soaring prices.
The presidency of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification conference – known as Cop16 – launched the Riyadh Action Agenda on Friday to develop a framework to protect the planet's natural resources.
Intensive agriculture can permanently damage the fertility of land and soil, with farmers and communities left to count the cost.
Why is this important?
According to the UNCCD, crop yields could decline by as much as 50 per cent by 2050 and cause food prices to spike by an estimated 30 per cent as a result of land degradation.
That is because agriculture is the main cause of land degradation, with existing agri-food systems playing a significant role in deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and the loss of biodiversity.
The UNCCD reports that agriculture is responsible for 23 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, 80 per cent of deforestation, and 70 per cent of global freshwater consumption.
"Around 95 per cent of our food comes from the soil, and yet we continue to treat it like dirt. Unsustainable land management, farming practices and industrial-scale profiteering, are creating a simply unsustainable pace of land degradation, with every year 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil being lost." said Dr Osama Faqeeha, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Environment, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and adviser to the Cop16 Presidency.
"This is a leading cause of global food and water insecurity, impacting everyone from farmers toiling increasingly barren fields, to consumers paying more for essential goods.”
Take for example the impact of cotton production on the Aral Sea, shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Once the world's fourth-largest freshwater lake, it was used for large-scale agriculture irrigation. Decline of the waterbody began in the 1960s and by 2010 the lake had lost 90 per cent of its original size.
Once a 40-metre-deep fishing-scape is now a sandy desert with stranded ships. This impacted the livelihoods and lives of the farmers and communities surrounding the shores of the lake.
On the sidelines of Cop16, researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust), published a policy paper, Bending the Curve: A Call to Action on Land Restoration and Sustainability, which outlines a framework for halving degraded land by 2050.
Speaking to The National from Cop16, Professor Fernando Maestre, one of the paper's authors, said the initiative aims to reverse the negative impacts of land degradation, which include increased food insecurity and reduced water resources.
"One of the one of the key policy actions that should be implementing is reducing food waste. We are proposing a very ambitious target of reducing food waste by 75 per cent by 2050," said Prof Maestre.
He told The National that a balance is needed between the initiatives to prevent food waste and those that encourage more sustainable food systems. According to the UN, roughly one third of food produced globally is wasted every year.
"We are wasting food every year, and the cost is approximately over $750 billion per year. Can you imagine if we can recover a fraction of that amount? We can use that money to incentivise farmers to do a more." said Prof Maestre.
The Kaust policy paper has called for synergies across UN Conventions for climate, biodiversity and land to provide joint policy recommendations and oversee implementation – to put food on the table and agendas of governments. This includes establishing an Integrated Conventions Panel to ensure accountability and track progress.
Prof Maestre said that such international collaboration on the global food system will support policy shifts that could transform the way land is farmed and industry is incentivised.
"In Europe, for example, the way that we produce food is mainly driven by the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, by subsidy, people plant whatever is paid for," he said.
But Prof Maestre has proposed that instead of subsidising farmers for crops that may not be fully harvested, farmers could be paid for capturing carbon in plots of land that are at risk of being overcultivated.
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