Degraded Soil Means Less Food

World Totals

(million hectares)

Vegetation Removal 579

Overexploitation 133

Overgrazing 679

Agricultural Activities 522

Industrial and

Bioindustrial 23

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Human-Induced Soil Degradation by Region and by Cause, 1945 to Late 1980s.

By 1990, poor agricultural practices had contributed to the degradation of 562 million hectares, about 38 percent of the foughly 1.5 billion hectares in cropland worldwide. For more information see http://www.wri.org/trends/soilloss.html.

Source: World Resources Institute in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Development Programme, World Resources 1992-93 (Oxford University Press, New York, 1992), Table 19.4, p. 290.