A global warning has been issued over the rapid loss of productive land, with a new report cautioning that shrinking soil quality is undermining food output and threatening communities that rely on farming.
The latest findings from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reveal that soil strain, driven mainly by human actions, is expanding and already affecting millions of households, including in Kenya.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2025 report paints a worrying picture of land exhaustion spreading across continents, describing the situation as a growing crisis that weakens farms, harms livelihoods and endangers future harvests.
The agency says the rate of soil damage has increased to a level that demands urgent attention from governments and agricultural systems.
According to the assessment, more than one billion people are living in places where crop yields are shrinking due to soil wear. It says roughly 1.7 billion people are in regions where productivity has dropped because the land can no longer support crops the way it once did.
FAO explains that the decline is being pushed by both natural and man-made causes, but notes that human activity has become the leading factor.
Clearing forests, heavy grazing pressure, continuous farming without proper soil care and poorly planned irrigation have created conditions that wash away soil, drain nutrients and increase salt content in farmland.
The agency warns that if soil continues to lose its fertility, the ability to feed growing populations will be compromised. “This is no longer a distant threat but a present reality for farmers across many regions,” the report states.
Kenya is highlighted as one of the countries experiencing rising soil stress. Findings in the Soil Atlas Kenya Edition 2025 released by Heinrich Böll Stiftung show that more than 40 percent of the nation’s soils are already degraded.
The publication points to high acid levels and salinity in large sections of farmland, conditions that limit plant growth and reduce output.
Erosion is also highlighted as a major concern, with the Atlas showing that cropland in Kenya loses around 26 tonnes of soil per hectare every year from rain runoff. In several parts of the country, losses are much higher, exceeding 90 tonnes annually and leaving bare ground that is more easily swept away or compacted.
The situation is even worse in arid and semi-arid counties where livestock pressure has stripped vegetation, removing the natural shield that holds soil in place.
At the same time, changing weather patterns, marked by unpredictable and heavy rainfall, are worsening soil loss and making farm recovery slow and expensive.
Globally, the financial strain from soil loss is heavy, with soil erosion alone costing about 400 billion dollars annually in reduced harvests and damaged farmland.
FAO stresses that soil protection should be treated as a core part of food planning, urging countries to adopt farming methods that rebuild soil and protect natural vegetation.
