The Water Information Program

Up to 40% of the land’s surface is used for agriculture, along with 70% of the world’s fresh water supply. Today, agriculture accounts for 38.7% of total global employment. Population growth and increasing affluence in some countries are increasing demand for food and changing the types of food in demand — from grain to meat, for example, a change that requires more farmland. More land is being used to grow fuel crops, and climate change and water scarcity are compromising the ability of agricultural lands to deliver quality produce. The last 150 years have witnessed large-scale conversion of land to make way for agricultural and other activities. Land-use change has both positive and negative impacts on biodiversity Making land productive often helps to attract greater biodiversity, while conversion of land for agro-forestry also encourages greater levels of biodiversity. Farming needs biodiversity and healthy ecosystems: for pollination, the creation of genetically diverse plant and crop species, the development of robust, insectresistant strains, crop protection and watershed control.  

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