Managing fragile land to improve livelihoods

Half a billion people in developing countries live in arid regions with no access to irrigation systems. Another 400 million are on land with soils unsuitable for agriculture, 200 million in slope-dominated regions, and more than 130 million in fragile forest ecosystems.³ These areas (table 4.1), covering an estimated 73 percent of the Earth's land surface, face significant problems for agriculture investment and have limited ability to sustain growing populations (also see Roadmap Figures 4 and 5). Sensitive to land use patterns, they are particularly vulnerable to degradation, erosion, floods, and landslides.