NAIROBI, Kenya – A new United Nations report has warned that land degradation driven by human activity is accelerating at an alarming rate, undermining food production and threatening the livelihoods of more than one billion people worldwide.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2025 report released this week by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) describes the crisis as “pervasive, human-driven, and escalating,” with Kenya among the countries already experiencing severe impacts on crop yields and soil fertility.
According to the report, about 1.7 billion people live in regions where agricultural productivity has declined because land can no longer sustain healthy crop growth.
“Land degradation is not simply an environmental issue—it is a direct threat to rural livelihoods and global food security,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. “It results from intersecting pressures that undermine agricultural output and ecosystem resilience.”
Kenya among worst affected in East Africa
In Kenya, more than 40 per cent of soils are degraded, with rising acidity and salinity levels reducing yields, according to the Soil Atlas Kenya Edition 2025, published by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung.
The Atlas shows that croplands in East Africa lose an average of 26 tonnes of soil per hectare each year due to water-driven erosion, with some regions experiencing losses of up to 90 tonnes.
Overgrazing in arid and semi-arid areas has stripped vegetation cover, leaving soil exposed to erosion and compaction, while erratic rainfall linked to climate change further worsens the situation.
Globally, the FAO estimates that soil erosion alone costs around $400 billion (KSh 61 trillion) annually in lost agricultural productivity.
Human activity blamed
The report attributes most degradation to human activities such as deforestation, unsustainable crop cultivation, overgrazing, and poorly managed irrigation systems.
These practices deplete nutrients, increase salinisation, and weaken the soil’s capacity to support crops.
FAO says reversing even 10 per cent of human-induced degradation on existing croplands could restore enough productivity to feed an additional 154 million people every year.
The organisation is calling for urgent policy action—including incentives for sustainable land use, regulations against harmful practices like deforestation, and linking agricultural subsidies to environmental conservation.
More than 130 countries have already pledged to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
“We must act decisively and create enabling environments that support long-term investment, innovation, and responsible land stewardship,” Dongyu said.
The FAO recommends sustainable practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, improved grazing management, and soil conservation techniques as proven methods to restore degraded land and boost resilience to climate shocks.
