Impact of agriculture

4 problems affect agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago: agrochemical pollution, solid waste, soil erosion and deforestation (Govia & Roopnarine, 2024).

4 principales problemas de degradación de cuencas afectan la agricultura en Trinidad y Tobago: contaminación por pesticidas y fertilizantes, disposición de residuos sólidos, erosión del suelo y deforestación (Govia & Roopnarine, 2024).

Govia, S., & Roopnarine, R. (2024). Untapped and Untold: The Hidden Connection between Water and Sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago. Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA). Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Change in land use

420 million hectares of forests were converted to other land uses between 1990 and 2020 (FAO, 2024).

FAO, 2024

FAO. 2024. El estado de los bosques del mundo 2024: Innovaciones en el sector forestal para lograr un futuro más sostenible. Roma.

Efficient land use

85 gigatons of CO₂ could be sequestered with efficient land use, equivalent to more than 1.5 years of global emissions, with no negative economic impact (Sutton, Lotsch & Prasann, 2024).

Sutton, William R., Alexander Lotsch, & Ashesh Prasann. 2024. Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System. Agriculture and Food Series. Washington, DC: Banco Mundial. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-2093-9. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO

Damania, Richard, Stephen Polasky, Mary Ruckelshaus, Jason Russ, Markus Amann, Rebecca Chaplin Kramer, James Gerber, Peter Hawthorne, Martin Philipp Heger, Saleh Mamun, Giovanni Ruta, Rafael Schmitt, Jeffrey Smith, Adrian Vogl, Fabian Wagner, and Esha Zaveri. 2023. Nature’s Frontiers: Achieving Sustainability, Efficiency, and Prosperity with Natural Capital. Environment and Sustainable Development series. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1923-0.

Agricultural soils

52% of the world's agricultural soils are considered carbon depleted (Sutton, Lotsch & Prasann, 2024).

Sutton, William R., Alexander Lotsch, & Ashesh Prasann. 2024. Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System. Agriculture and Food Series. Washington, DC: Banco Mundial. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-2093-9. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO

UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification). 2022. The Global Land Outlook. 2nd ed. Bonn: UNCCD. https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/2022-04/UNCCD_GLO2_low-res_2.pdf.

Solid carbon

3.8 GtCO2eq per year can be stored in the soil for less than USD 100 per ton, equivalent to more than 1 Gt of solid carbon (Sutton, Lotsch & Prasann, 2024).

Sutton, William R., Alexander Lotsch, & Ashesh Prasann. 2024. Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System. Agriculture and Food Series. Washington, DC: Banco Mundial. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-2093-9. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO

Agricultural land

28% of the world's agricultural land is used to produce food that is wasted (Sutton, Lotsch & Prasann, 2024).

Sutton, William R., Alexander Lotsch, & Ashesh Prasann. 2024. Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System. Agriculture and Food Series. Washington, DC: Banco Mundial. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-2093-9. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). 2013. Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources. Summary Report. Rome: FAO. https://www.fao.org/3/i3347e/i3347e.pdf. World Bank. 2020. Addressing Food Loss and Waste: A Global Problem with Local Solutions. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34521.

Land management in Mexico

Nearly 32,000 ejidos and local communities, with more than 5.6 million ejidatarios, manage more than half of the land in Mexico (UNCCD, 2024).

UNCCD, 2024

UNCCD. 2024. Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralism. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn.

Cattle in Canada

3.7 million beef cattle and 1 million dairy cattle in Canada are distributed across approximately 40,000 and 9,000 farms, respectively (UNCCD, 2024).

UNCCD, 2024

UNCCD. 2024. Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralism. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn.

Grasslands in Mexico

25% of Mexico's national territory is covered by grasslands and shrublands in arid and semi-arid zones (UNCCD, 2024).

UNCCD, 2024

UNCCD. 2024. Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralism. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn.

Sheep farming in the United States

5.2 million sheep in the United States, including 3.8 million breeding sheep, were distributed across more than 100,000 farms in 2020 (UNCCD, 2024).

UNCCD, 2024

UNCCD. 2024. Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralism. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn.