Soil Erosion and Land Degradation: The Global Risks

Abstract

The total land area of the world exceeds 13 billion hectares, but less than half of it can be used for agriculture, including grazing. The world’s potentially arable land is estimated at 3031 million hectares, or 22% of the total land area. The potential cultivable land is distributed as follows: 2154 and 877 million hectares, respectively, in developing and developed countries representing 28% and 15% of the land area (Dudal, 1982). About 1461 million hectares or 40% of the world potentially arable land is cultivated (Dregne, 1982; Dudal, 1982), with 784 and 677 million hectares representing 36% and 77% of the potentially cultivable land in developing and developed countries, respectively. Ironically, the 1461 million hectares of land now being cultivated does not include an estimated 2000 million hectares of once biologically productive land that has been degraded or destroyed.