The loss or degradation of key agricultural resources - especially land, water and a stable climate - is leading to a surge in land grabbing, according to a new report published by the Worldwatch Institute in October. The “State of the World 2015: Confronting Hidden Threats to Sustainability” warns that farmland is becoming degraded through erosion and salinisation on every continent and more and more countries depend on international markets for basic food supplies. Aquifers are being pumped faster than they are recharged by rainfall, putting pressure on many food-producing areas. As a result, countries and foreign investors purchase or lease agricultural land, threatening the food security of the people who used the land. The report states that more than 36 million hectares, an area about the size of Japan, have been purchased or leased by foreign entities since 2000, mostly for agricultural use. Today, nearly 15 million hectares more are under negotiation. About half of grabbed land is intended exclusively for use in agriculture, while another 25% is intended for a mix of agricultural and other uses. Over half of the global grabbed land is in Africa, especially in water-rich countries like the Congo. Asia ranks second, contributing over 6 million hectares, mainly from Indonesia. Large-scale purchases often do not consider the interests of smallholders who may have been working the land over a long period. In addition, if poorer countries sell out their land and water resources to foreign investors and governments this also increases their vulnerability, for example in case of misharvests. “Conserving the very base of food production - the land, water, and climate that make crop growth possible - is essential to ensure that the world’s farmers continue to produce enough food for everyone,” writes Gary Gardner, contributing author of the report. He argues that in times of dwindling agricultural resources and a changing climate, greater effort will be needed to conserve resources and to exploit opportunities for greater efficiency throughout the agricultural system. This could be achieved by preventing food waste, increasing water efficiency, conserving agricultural land and reducing the production of meat and biofuels, both of which require large quantities of land and water for grain or crops. Gardner believes that the stress on food systems can be reduced. He calls for the international adoption of the right to food, which has already been integrated in the constitutions of 28 countries, to make sure that food cannot be withheld for political reasons. (ab)