Development Studies
Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement - A Global Assessment for Sustainable Development
Land degradation is occurring in almost all terrestrial biomes and
agro-ecologies, in both low and high income countries. However its impact is
especially severe on the livelihoods of the poor who heavily depend on natural
resources. Despite the severe impact of land degradation on the poor and the crucial
role that land plays in human welfare and development, investments in sustainable
land management (SLM) are low, especially in developing countries. This chapter
summarizes the results from global and regional levels as well as 12 case study
countries. The chapter also draws conclusions and implications for taking action
against land degradation. Land degradation stretches to about 30 % of the total
global land area and about three billion people reside in degraded lands. The annual
global cost of land degradation due to land use/cover change (LUCC) and using
land degrading management practices on static cropland and grazing land is about
300 billion USD. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounts for the largest share (22 %) of
the total global cost of land degradation. Only about 46 % of the cost of land
degradation due to LUCC which accounts for 78 % of the US$300 billion loss
is borne by land users and the remaining share (54 %) is borne by consumers of
ecosystem services off the farm.
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