Scientists call for overhauling food systems to avert major land degradation crisis

A Nature study outlines a roadmap linking food waste cuts, sustainable seafood, and smallholder support to restore degraded land and align with UN climate and biodiversity targets.

Bengaluru: Current food systems require a fundamental overhaul to prevent global land degradation, and this priority must be incorporated into intergovernmental agreements, according to 21 scientists in a new paper published in Nature.

The article, Bending the curve of land degradation to achieve global environmental goals, calls for halting food waste and adopting sustainable land management to meet a projected 56% increase in food demand over the next 30 years. Food production, they note, must be sustainable: it currently accounts for 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions, occupies 34% of ice-free land, drives 80% of deforestation, and consumes 70% of available freshwater.

The researchers propose restoring 50% of degraded land by 2050 — equivalent to 30 lakh sq km of cropland and 1 crore sq km of non-cropland. They stress that restoration efforts should involve local and indigenous communities who live on and manage the land. With 90% of the world’s farmland in plots smaller than five acres, the authors urge a shift in subsidies from large-scale industrial farms to sustainable smallholders. They also recommend environmental labelling to guide consumer choices, and improved monitoring and reporting to track emissions.

Food waste

The paper notes that 33% of global food is wasted — 14% lost post-harvest at farms, and 19% at retail, food service, and household levels. Cutting food waste by 75% could free up about 1.34 crore sq km of land. Suggested measures include policies to prevent spoilage, ending retail standards that reject cosmetically imperfect produce, and promoting food donations.

Replacing 70% of unsustainably produced red meat with sustainably produced seafood — including wild or farmed fish and mollusks — could spare 1.71 crore sq km of land currently used for pasture and feed crops. Using sustainably sourced seaweed and substituting just 10% of global vegetable intake with seaweed-derived products could release over 4 lakh sq km of cropland.

The scientists argue these changes require coordinated international action, especially among the three United Nations conventions: the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“Land is more than soil and space. It harbors biodiversity, cycles water, stores carbon, and regulates climate. It gives us food, sustains life, and holds deep roots of ancestry and knowledge. Today, over one-third of Earth’s land is used to grow food — feeding a global population of more than 8 billion people. Yet modern farming practices, deforestation, and overuse are degrading soil, polluting water, and destroying vital ecosystems.

Food production alone drives nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. We need to act. To secure a thriving future — and protect land — we must reimagine how we farm, how we live, and how we relate to nature and to each other. It is time for land stewardship: to care for land as a living ally, not as a resource to exploit,” said co-author Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Professor, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

Fernando T. Maestre, lead author from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, said the paper offers a clear roadmap to avoid crisis. “By transforming food systems, restoring degraded land, harnessing sustainable seafood, and fostering cooperation across nations and sectors, we can ‘bend the curve’ and reverse land degradation while advancing the goals of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and other global agreements,” he said.