Why the world needs to pay more attention to land degradation

A third of the planet’s land is severely degraded, leading to agricultural loss and food insecurity.

Meseret Addise, Yirse Dessele, and Abehaw Gobez stand in a protected gully in northern Ethiopia. This area has seen five hectares of gullies formed in the community every year, equivalent to more than seven soccer fields’ worth of land being lost. John Longhurst photograph courtesy of Canadian Foodgrains Bank

Opinion

BY STEPHANIE MCDONALD

August 16, 2018

In Woldiya, in northern Ethiopia, a series of gullies scar the landscape. Where once there was farmland, land has eroded, opening up 10-metre-deep crevices, separating farmers from their fields and children from their schools. In 2013, the local government estimated that five hectares of gullies ar...

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