The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today issued a stark warning on Monday that feeding a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050 is in jeopardy without urgent, smarter management of the world”s finite land, soil, and water resources, which are under severe strain.
The latest edition of a landmark report, The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW 2025), underscores that these fundamental resources are not infinite and their preservation is critical for present and future global food security.
The report’s release comes as an estimated 673 million people experienced hunger in 2024, with numerous regions facing recurrent food emergencies. These pressures are set to intensify, requiring agriculture to produce 50 percent more food, feed, and fibre than in 2012, along with 25 percent more freshwater, to meet the demands of a population approaching 9.7 billion by mid-century.
Titled ‘The potential to produce more and better,’ the analysis highlights the core challenge of producing more with less. While global agricultural output tripled over the past 60 years using only an 8 percent land increase, this was achieved at high environmental and social costs. FAO data reveals that over 60 percent of human-caused land degradation now occurs on agricultural land.
The SOLAW 2025 report decisively states that further expansion of agricultural areas is no longer a viable solution, cautioning that converting forests or fragile ecosystems would devastate the very biodiversity and ecosystem functions that farming relies upon.
While the world has the potential to feed a peak population of 10.3 billion people by 2085, achieving this hinges on a paradigm shift toward more intelligent production. Future productivity gains must stem from closing yield gaps, diversifying into resilient crop varieties, and adopting resource-efficient, locally-tailored farming methods.
Significant opportunities exist in rainfed agriculture, which supports millions of smallholder farmers. The FAO identifies scaling up conservation agriculture, using drought-tolerant crops, and implementing moisture conservation techniques as key to boosting productivity and strengthening food security for millions.
Integrated systems such as agroforestry, rotational grazing, and rice-fish farming offer additional pathways for sustainable intensification. The potential is particularly high in developing regions like sub-Saharan Africa, where current rainfed crop yields are a mere 24 percent of their attainable potential with proper management.
The report emphasizes that there is no single blueprint for success, calling instead for a combination of coherent policies, strong governance, accessible technology, sustainable investment, and enhanced institutional capacity.
With the climate crisis altering agricultural landscapes, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu noted in the report’s foreword, ‘the choices we make today for the management of land and water resources will determine how we meet current and future demands while protecting the world for generations to come.’
The findings are positioned to inform major conferences of the three Rio Conventions in 2026, offering a unified foundation for building resilient agrifood systems through integrated management of land, soil, and water.