October 2017: Between 2002 and 2013, Asian countries lost roughly half of their annual crop production – valued at around US$732.7 billion – due to soil losses. Africa loses 280 million tons of cereal crops each year due to the degradation of 105 million hectares of cropland, which has serious implications for the region’s future development and stability. These are among key messages from ongoing studies by the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative and its partners, which conclude, in the case of Asia, that implementing sustainable land management practices could raise land productivity from between five and eight tons per hectare, enabling countries to “reduce their poverty gap to zero by 2030.”

The ELD has published a policy brief summarizing the main findings and policy messages of the recently concluded Asia study, carried out in collaboration with UN Environment. It covered 44 countries and two Chinese provinces. The publication notes that the main objective of the study was to assess the economic benefits and costs towards achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN) – which is one of the targets under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 (Life on land) – with a view to providing evidence for policy makers on the cost-effectiveness of investing sustainable land management (SLM). The study also aimed to assess the impact of achieving the SDG target 15.3 on LDN and on other SGDs related to economic growth, rural employment, poverty reduction and food security.

For Asia, implementing sustainable land management practices could raise land productivity from between five and eight tons per hectare, enabling countries to “reduce their poverty gap to zero by 2030.”

The study methodology integrated biophysical modelling of soil nutrient balance in agricultural ecosystems with econometric modelling to estimate the net benefits of investing in SLM. The research team also drew on national-level economic and biophysical data covering the 10-year period between 2002 and 2013.

Highlighting some of the key conclusions of the study, the brief notes that applying SLM practices like mulching, manuring, terracing, constructing bunds or dams, and reforesting can successfully outweigh the costs by almost seven-fold, and could even lead to the reversal of degradation processes.

For other SDGs, the brief notes that, in the case of SDG 1 (No Poverty), the sum annuity of net present value (NPV) of investing in SLM technologies is about US$258 billion, or 2.5 times the annuity of the present value of cost of poverty reduction. This, the brief concludes, “implies that investing in SLM technologies and achieving agricultural LDN would enable Asian countries to reduce the poverty gap to zero by 2030.”

Meanwhile, the ELD Initiative, in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), has embarked on a similar study for eight African countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia – under the umbrella of the EU-funded ‘Reversing Land Degradation in Africa through Scaling-up EverGreen Agriculture’ project. The project aims to improve livelihoods, food security and climate change resilience, by restoring ecosystem services. The project also aims to raise awareness on the threats and opportunities of different land use options by supporting and communicating cost-benefit analyses in each country. The project will involve a capacity building component by enhancing the technical skills of national experts involved in the study. [ELD Press Release on Asia Study] [Policy Brief: The Economics of Land Degradation Neutrality in Asia: ELD ASIA Report 2017] [ELD Project Flyer: Assessing Opportunities for SLM in Africa]