Degraded Agricultural Soils Restored & Productive

"Restoration can bring degraded farmland back into productivity and sequester carbon in the process... Around the world, farmers are walking away from lands that were once cultivated or grazed because those lands have been “farmed out.” The causes range from damaging agricultural practices to desertification, from lack of market access to migration, and from higher cost of cultivation to lower productivity gains. The loss of agricultural productivity poses a serious threat to food security. By releasing carbon from soil and biomass, degradation increases greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere... Restoring degraded [farm]lands to productivity can simultaneously improve food security, farmers’ livelihoods, ecosystem health, and carbon sequestration. It can also reduce emissions by reducing deforestation... Given the urgency of preventing emissions from deforestation and increased global food demand, abandoned farmland restoration is highly desirable. It's impressive carbon sequestration potential, along with these co-benefits, makes it an essential climate solution."