Some 1.5 billion people may starve due to land erosion

Rising land degradation reduces crop yields and may threaten food security of about a quarter of the world' population, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

Food security has been highlighted in recent months as soaring crop prices resulting from poor harvests, low stocks, high fuel prices and rising demand, risks causing starvation for millions of people in the developing world.

"An estimated 1.5 billion people, or a quarter of the world's population, depend directly on land that is being degraded," FAO said in a statement presenting a study based on data taken over a 20-year period.

Long-term land degradation has been increasing around the world and affects more than 20 per cent of all cultivated areas, 30 per cent of forests and 10 per cent of grasslands, FAO said.

Land erosion leads to reduced productivity, migration, food insecurity, damage to basic resources and ecosystems, loss of biodiversity and also contributes to increasing emission of heat-trapping gases, the Rome-based agency said.