Published every two years, SOLAW 2025 focuses on the hidden and untapped potential of land, soil and water resources to enhance sustainable agricultural production, food security, resilience, and ecosystem services.
Key Highlights of Report
- Core Challenges: By 2050, increase in global population require agriculture to produce 50% more food, feed and fibre than in 2012, alongside 25% more freshwater while expanding agricultural area is no longer viable.
- Over 60% of human-induced land degradation occurs on agricultural lands and agriculture accounts for more than 70% of global freshwater withdrawal.
- Intensive agricultural practices and unsustainable use of chemicals increasingly lead to pollution and the depletion of land, soil and water resources.
- Potential for Sustainable Agricultural Production
- Increase Land Productivity: By reducing the yield gap, selecting resilient crops suited to local conditions and adopting sustainable management practices.
- Increasing Productivity of Rainfed Agriculture: By scaling up conservation agriculture, and drought-resilient practices such as soil moisture conservation, crop diversification etc.
- For instance, in Gorakhpur, India, management of effective microorganisms, significantly increased farmers’ incomes.
- Integrating Systems: Such as agroforestry, rotational grazing and forage improvement, as well as rice–fish farming.
- Institutional Capacity Development: Through modern extension approaches including training programmes like FAO’s Farmer Field Schools (FFS).
- In Andhra Pradesh, FFS approach has supported the Community Managed Natural Farming initiative, regenerating ecosystems and improving livelihoods.
