This is the conclusion of the FAO report “State of the World’s Land and Water Resources” (SOWAL 2025) published on December 1. The organization formulated the main task of the world rural economy: to produce more with less resources. Is it possible? Historical experience testifies in favor of such a prospect.
Over the last 60 years, world agricultural production has tripled, while the total area of agricultural land has increased by only 8%. However, this proportion has come at a high environmental and social cost. According to FAO, agricultural land accounts for more than 60% of anthropogenic land degradation today.
The report emphasizes that the expansion of agricultural areas is no longer feasible. For example, deforestation or conversion of fragile ecosystems would undermine critical biodiversity and ecosystem functions on which agriculture itself depends. Nevertheless, solutions exist, but action must be taken quickly.
SOLAW 2025 presents science-based recommendations for the sustainable use and management of land, soil and water resources. The report indicates that by 2085, when the global population is expected to peak, the world has the potential to feed up to 10.3 billion people. However, achieving this goal depends on how food is produced and what the environmental, social and economic costs will be.
Consequently, future productivity growth must come from a more sustainable approach rather than simply increasing production. This means reducing the yield gap (the difference between current and potentially achievable yields), diversifying agricultural production, switching to sustainable crop varieties, and adopting locally adapted, resource-efficient practices suited to specific land, soil and water conditions.
Rainfed (non-irrigated) agriculture, on which millions of smallholder farmers rely, offers key opportunities. Productivity can be greatly enhanced by expanding conservation agriculture, growing drought-resistant crops and adopting practices that increase drought resilience, such as soil moisture conservation, crop diversification and organic composting. Such practices can improve the food security of millions of smallholder farmers while improving soil health and on-farm biodiversity. Integrated systems such as agroforestry, rotational grazing and fodder crop improvement, and rice-fish farming offer additional pathways to sustainable intensification.
The potential for significant productivity gains is particularly large in developing regions. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, rainfed crop yields currently reach only 24% of their achievable potential under proper management.
The report emphasizes that there is no single path and no one-size-fits-all solution. Sustainable solutions require coherent policies, good governance, accessible data and technology, innovation, risk management, sustainable finance and investment, and capacity building of different institutions and communities.
With the climate crisis changing where and how food is grown, “the choices we make today about land and water management will determine how we meet current and future needs while protecting the world for future generations,” wrote FAO Director-General Qiu Dongyu in the foreword to the report.
