9 Land & Soil Resource (2): Distribution, Livelihood & Scarcity Concerns

Dr Soma Sarkar

  Learning Objectives:

  After studying this unit you should be able to:

• Understand the status and trends of global landuse/landcover systems with reference to developing and developed countries.
• Explore major emerging issues influencing land use change.
• Examine the implications of recent changes for achieving international accords

    KEYWORDS

    Land resource, resource scarcity, soil degradation, sustainable agriculture.

9.1. Introduction

Resource stress refers to the pressure that a resource faces towards its existence on the earth. Our consciousness towards resource stress and the need for their management emerged when we stood in front of a question on whether economic growth and human development can be sustained in our finite natural world. Issues of resource scarcity are rapidly drawing attention – in both developing and developed countries and from institutions like the UN to the G20. Population growth, changing patterns of climate, globalization of economy, rapid urbanization and growing usage of natural resources are inducing stress on the ecosystems as ever.

Competing demands for food, fodder, fuel and raw materials are escalating stresses on land. Threat on the soil health actually leads to land degradation. The 68th UN General Assembly declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils (IYS). In the session it was stated that “…soils constitute the foundation for agricultural development, essential ecosystem functions and food security and hence are key to sustaining life on Earth”. Assessing the current scenario, despite international goals to improve their management, pressure on land has increased during recent times. According to a development report by World Banki, “the demand for food is projected to rise by 50% by 2030. However, statistics shows that between 2000 and 2008, the world consumed more food than it has produced in 7 of the 8 years.ii The probable reason for such anomaly was reported due to long period of under-investment in agriculture, and the current rates of productivity growth driven by the Green Revolution are not satisfactory. Beside this, the amount of arable land per capita almost halved from 1960 to 2007, from 0.39 to 0.21 hectares, but its demand is continuously increasing from multiple sources including food, feed, fibre (paper, timber etc.), biofuels, carbon sequestration, and cities”.iii

The fourth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4) (UNEP 2007) has expressed that increased demand for water, waste disposal and food may lead to unsustainable land use patterns and land degradation. GEO-4 report concluded that “continued inaction on land stewardship combined with increased climate change would reduce social resilience, and make recovery from future stresses difficult or impossible…The sustainable management of soil can contribute to healthy soils and thus to a food-secure world, and to stable and sustainably used ecosystems… There is an urgent need at all levels to raise awareness on soil health and to promote sustainable use of our limited land resources using the best available scientific information, and building on all dimensions of sustainable development.”

This chapter therefore, provides an update on the status and trends of global land systems, explores major emerging issues influencing land use change, and examines the implications of recent changes for achieving international accords.

9.2. Defining Soil Degradation

FAO defines soil degradation “… as a change in the soil health status resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. Degraded soils have a health status such, that they do not provide the normal goods and services of the particular soil in its ecosystem”.

Soil degradation means a broad range of changes in soil character. It addresses the various natural or anthropogenic factors that alter their structure and quality. It includes deforestation (the removal of natural vegetation), farming activities, vegetation overexploitation for domestic purposes, overgrazing, and industrial activities. “The Global Assessment of Soil Degradation” (GLASOD) has described soil degradation as “a human-induced phenomenon”. It pointed out that soil degradation in general is the deterioration of soil quality, which is the “entire or partial loss of one or more soil functionalities”.

Soil degradation can occur through physical, chemical and biological processes. By physical, it means processes like erosion, lack of soil compaction; chemical represents the processes like acidification, salinization, etc.; and biological means loss of soil organic matter, loss of biodiversity and so on. The factors that determine the kind of degradation are many. The major one is surely the soil’s inherent properties (i.e., both physical and chemical properties). The others are climatic elements (i.e., rainfall, humidity, temperature), terrain characteristics (i.e., texture, slope, drainage) and the vegetation character (i.e., biodiversity, biomass). Land degradation is a more broad definition in this sense: biophysical (i.e., land use, deforestation, cropping system, farming practices), socio-economic (i.e., institutions, poverty, markets), and political (i.e., policies, conflicts, political instability). Therefore, Blaikie and Brookfield iv said that “Land degradation should by definition be a social problem. Purely environmental processes such as leaching and erosion occur with or without human interference, but for these processes to be described as degradation implies social criteria which relate land to its actual or possible use. Thus, land degradation should be a matter of political ecology, and a discipline that combines ecology with political economy.”

FAO describes “land degradation” to be a broader concept than “soil degradation”. According to the organization the former context includes the evaluation of the interrelated parts of the ecosystem, and of the trade-offs that may exist between them. For example, loss of biodiversity can be an outcome against improvements in economic services under intensive farming. Thus, though a difference is made between “soil degradation” and “land degradation”, most of the times in the assessment exercises these are undivided. Estimates provided by Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (the FAO-UNDP project) suggest that the global land status can be categorized (in order of importance) as “High degradation trend or highly degraded lands” which covers 25%; “Moderate degradation trend in slightly or moderately degraded land” as 36%; “Moderate degradation in slightly or moderately degraded land” as 8%, “Improving lands” 8%, “Bare areas” as 18% and the remaining 2% is represented by water. (fig 9.1)

Fig 9.1. Level of soil degradation at a global level.

9.3. Status, problems and trends of global land systems

9.3.1    Agriculture

Owing to population growth, urbanization and change in diets (i.e., inclusion of more animal products in food habit), demands for food and fodder are mounting rapidly. All these are leading to extensive growth of farm land allocated to livestock and animal feed production. Data from the Global Land Cover SHARE(GLC-SHARE) database 2014 (developed based on the major land cover classes defined by the FAO) estimates:

Croplands: 13.0%,

Grasslands (including shrubs, herbs, sparse vegetation): 31.0%;

Tree-covered areas: 28%;

Bare soil: 15%;

Snow and Glacier: 9%; and

    Artificial surfaces (including urbanized areas): 1%.

         Therefore, at a time when we are struggling with threats of food security due to water shortage and land degradation, accelerated interest and policy encouragements towards biofuel, fodder and fibre production in recent years imposes extra burden on agricultural landuse. The scenario is indiscriminate for both developing and developed nations (Fig. 9.2). In 2009, globally there were about 3.3 billion hectares of pastureland and 1.5 billion hectares of cropland. Interestingly, all regions except Europe had a greater proportion of land under pasture than to cropland.

Larger gaps between actual and potential yields are also a point of concern, and are mainly found where low-input agriculture is practised. Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean – where although farm lands have increased since 2001, still have relatively poor yields compared to Europe and North America. By assessing and overcoming such region-specific constraints, increase in food production is possible while minimizing cropland expansion. However, one must remember that crop productivity is limited by biophysical and other factors. Excessive use of machinery and chemical supplements in the form of herbicides, fertilizers, and pesticides, breaks up soil structure, chemically pollutes soil, pollutes ground and surface water, increases erosion, changes greenhouse gas fluxes, and destroys habitat.

Fig.9.2. Region wise cropland and pasture land distribution in 2009, and global change between 1960 and 2010.

       Extensive implementation of intensive, mechanized, high-input farming practices has greatly increased the rate of soil erosion. Erosion in conventional farming systems is nearly three times higher to the systems practising conservation agriculture. And it is nearly 3/4th times higher than in the systems with natural vegetation. Globally degraded land due to soil erosion (contributing to the decline in cropland available per person) is abandoned. Hence, the yield gained by these methods comes with ecological costs. In the other hand, in developing countries constantly cultivated and low-input cultivation systems, with rapidly diminishing soil fertility and yield respectively, continue to impact human wellbeing in agricultural communities. Noting the different dimensions of farming systems, i.e,, Economic, Demographic cum Social, Environmental, Yield capacity/Productivity, there exists a complex relation amongst them in relation to soil degradation (Fig 9.3).

Fig. 9.3 Complex relationship among dimensions of the farming system and soil degradation.

Fig 9.4. Major risks for global agriculture production system (Source: FAO, 2010)

   Besides, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and water relate issues; Land scarcity, soil erosion, desertification or drought have been identified some of the major risks of global agriculture production system. (fig 9.4). Now a day intensive agricultural practices greatly reduce soil organic matter (SOM) and its carbon stocks. The diminishing SOM reduces the resistance of soils towards erosion. It lowers the soil’s water holding capacity and affects overall soil health. A main goal of “sustainable agriculture” practices is to preserve soil health, enhancing SOM content and limiting soil erosion to a minimum.

    The term “sustainable agriculture” emerged in the late 1980s and its use was promoted by the study “Alternative Agriculture” by the Board on Agriculture of the National Research Council. As per the council, “sustainable agriculture should aim at preserving the natural resource base, especially soil and water, by relying on minimum artificial inputs from outside the farm system, and by offsetting the disturbances caused by cultivation and harvest, while being economically and socially viable….The domain of sustainable agriculture includes several definitions and practices such as agroecology, integrated agriculture, low input, precision agriculture and organic agriculture….However, sustainable agriculture does not refer to a prescribed set of practices and it differs from organic agriculture, because in some forms of sustainable agriculture agrochemicals may still play a role, for example, where integrated pest management strategies are employed”.

9.3.2 Forest

Historically, due to increasing demands for shelter, fuel wood or timber extraction, agricultural land, and meat production, forested lands were under pressure. However, in recent era this pressure has increased further. Reason for such escalations is competing demands for cultivable land expansion, rapid urbanization, infrastructure development, increased demand for forest-products, and biofuel production. However, behind each causes cited above the key drivers of forestland conversion are population growth, poverty, insecurity of the rights of local people, economic growth, land pricing, and incomplete valuation of theses ecosystems.

At the global level, annual forest loss declined to approximately 13 million hectares between 2000 and 2010 from 16 million hectares in the 1990s (FAO 2011). The highest tropical forest loss during this period occurred in Africa and South America (Fig. 9.5). Some rapidly developing countries including Brazil and Indonesia, which suffered extensive deforestation in the 1990s, have significantly reduced their tropical forest loss rates. However, less developed nations of Africa and Latin America continue to face high rates of loss. Regarding developed world, their forest loss in recent decades is exacerbated by natural factors such as drought, forest fire and insect attacks. Although due to rural-urban migration and farm abandonment, they have experienced net reforestation since the late 1800s,

Fig. 9.5. Changes in forested area by regions, 1990–2010.

    9.3.3 Urbanization

In recent decades, globally urbanization has progressed at an unexpected rate. This growth is projected to continue throughout this century. Urban areas that act as the hubs of social processes drive many changes through material demands. These, in turn, affect land use/ land cover, biodiversity and other resources, both locally to globally. It is the population, economic activities and income generation in urban centres, which drives their impact on the global environment in terms of land-use change around the world. Such impact is due to the demands for food, water, production materials and energy. However, if planned well, the overall pressure on land resources by growing population can reduce.

The UN Population Division projects that “between 2007 and 2050, the world’s urban population will increase by more than 3 billion, with almost all future population growth expected to take place in the cities and towns of developing countries. By 2050, more than 70 per cent of China’s population and 50 per cent of India’s is likely to be urban, with China expected to have 30 additional cities of more than 1 million inhabitants and India at 26.” A huge increase in land requirements for urban uses in the next 40 years (potentially an additional 100–200 million hectares) has been projected by some recent studies. This growth may occur in sprawled patterns. And will have major effects on air pollution and waste management.

9.4 Land and International agreed goals

In most of the internationally agreed goals, food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability were the main theme related to land (Table 9.1). Today such internationally coordinated responses towards land conservation are needed to address related social and environmental pressures. Since these agreements were prepared after rigorous discussion and consensus by experts, failure to attain these targets may have severe impacts on environmental integrity and well-being of man.

Table9.1:  Selected internationally agreed goals and themes related to land resource

9.4.1 Major issues obstructing the goals

International goals offer few guidelines for land management, but these are often sidelined by other competing demands and pressures. Global Environmental Outlook (GEO 5) has proposed four major themes that help to explain the apparent movement away from achieving land-related goals:

“ i. Economic growth at the expense of natural capital: Allowing the privatization of profits from the extraction of natural capital at the expense of more innovative and equitable land management approaches is a pervasive problem across all land covers and uses. Over the past two decades, payment for ecosystem services (PES) has gained attention as a mechanism with the potential to account for services provided by ecosystems in market transactions, build bridges and balance interests between the users and providers of these services, and deal with the linked challenges of conservation and poverty alleviation.”

ii. “Competing demands for land: The challenge of feeding a growing human population has been compounded by rising affluence in some regions. Changing diets, and increasing demand for biofuels and other industrial materials such as timber, protected lands have intensified competition for land and pressures on terrestrial ecosystems”.

iii. “Increased separation of production from consumption: Urbanization and globalization contribute to the separation between places where resources and goods originate, and where products are consumed. As a result, many of the ecological costs of consumption are borne by people and places increasingly far from consumption sites. Large-scale land acquisitions to supply food, fodder and other forest products, as well as other natural resources to markets in distant countries, are both a recent outcome of and a contributor to the separation of production and consumption.“

iv. “Governance challenges related to sustainable land management: there are three components of a governance system- actors and organizations, institutions, and practices. Incompatibility between these is one of the most common reasons for the lack of successful transition from resource extractive to sustainable management of land resources. A major challenge is to find the best governance system, which depends on existing governance alongside the social, economic and environmental conditions and their dynamics.”

5. Outlook and Goal gaps

Complex forces are affecting land resources. Some of them are at dramatic rates of change with diverse regional and national characteristics. Continued deforestation, wetland change, dry-land dilapidation, world-wide population growth, and rising demand apply ever larger stress on land resources. While these and other processes are unfolding rapidly, their longer-term implications remain uncertain.

One key to maintaining a strategic distance from environmental damage is to viably screen ecological patterns; yet significant information lapses restrict the capacity to deflect undesirable results. Though for monitoring land resources globally, satellite based remote sensing works great, yet no such innovation exists for population pattern study. National population census efforts are still irregular and poorly funded in many nations. Moreover population changes in rural areas are poorly monitored and thus have a significant data gap. Further, environmental consequences by rapid urbanization and its uncertain implications for land resources are difficult to track.

Objectives cannot be considered in isolation. Because of strains and collaborations, advance towards one objective must be seen in light of suggestions for others. For example, if food production is expanded through rural development, it specifically bargains the security of forests, wetlands and other ecosystems. Table 6.1b summarizes progress toward the themes expressed in internationally agreed goals on land use and conservation.

Table 6.1b. Progress towards goals (Source: GEO5, UNEP)

Limitations in the land use-change process assessments should not delay action to address their driving forces. The preventative measures can be applied to reduce their negativity. While international organizations are working in these efforts, every level of governments has a crucial role, accountability and opportunity to act as agents of change.

SUMMARY

• Soil degradation can occur due to physical, chemical and biological processes.
• Population growth, urbanization and change in diets (i.e., inclusion of more animal products in food habit), demands for food and livestock feed are imposing pressure on land, and are emerging issues influencing land use change.
• The status and trends of global landuse/landcover systems suggests an urgent need of land management.
• Understanding the insinuation of latest changes for attaining international accord, issues of capacity building and stakeholder participation be encouraged and emphasised more for better goal fulfilment.
• World Bank (2008). World Development Report 2008. Washington DC: World Bank
• Trostle, R. (2008). Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent increase in Food Commodity Prices. Washington DC: US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.
• World Bank World Development Indicators, at http://data.worldbank.org.
• Blaikie, P.; Brookfield, H. Land Degradation and Society; Routledge: London, UK, 1987.

REFERENCES

• Blanco-Canqui, H. and Lal, R. (2010). Principles of Soil Conservation and Management. pp.493–512. Springer.
• FAO (2012). FAO Statistics. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome
• Gadgil M. and Guha R., 2005: The Use and Abuse of Nature: Incorporating This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India and Ecology and Equity, Oxford University Press. USA.
• Jones G. and Hollier G., 1997: Resources, Society and Environmental Management, Paul Chapman, London.
• Newman, P. (2006). The environmental impact of cities. Environment and Urbanization 18(2), 275–295.