Sustainable crop production

Plants make up most of the food we eat: about 12 percent of the world's lands are destined for growing crops. Wheat, rice and maize provide 60 percent of the world's food energy intake. Altogether, some 6 000 plant species are cultivated for food production. But climate change is altering ecosystems and damaging biodiversity, while creating new niches for pests to thrive.

Restoring ecosystems contributes to climate mitigation and curbs the risk of species extinctions and future pandemics.
Agroforestry alone could increase food security for 1.3 billion people.

Global Soil Partnership

FAO’s Global Soil Partnership (GSP) is a globally recognized mechanism established in 2012, whose mission is to position soils on the global agenda. Its main objectives are to:

• promote sustainable soil management and improve soil governance to guarantee healthy and productive soils; and
• support the provision of essential ecosystem services towards food security and improved nutrition, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable development.

The GSP and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils have produced a series of soil maps through country-led processes to support informed decision-making at country level. Since 2012, the GSP’s capacity development programme has reached more than 7 000 national experts from over 170 countries.

Two of the maps produced are essential tools to address the climate crisis: the global map on soil organic carbon (SOC), which enables countries to draw conclusions on the distribution and status of their soil organic carbon stocks; and the SOC sequestration potential map, which allows the identification of regions, soil types and farming systems with the greatest potential to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Recarbonization of Global Soils

The Recarbonization of Global Soils (RECSOIL) facility is a mechanism that scales up sustainable soil management. It backs national and regional farming incentives that restore degraded soils, while preventing the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing to carbon sequestration efforts.

Water – an ever-scarcer resource

Agriculture accounts for around 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals. In some developing regions, 95 percent of water is destined for agriculture.
Meanwhile, much of our water footprint is hidden.
We "eat more water" through the food we ingest than the water we drink:
2 000 to 5 000 litres are needed to produce the food consumed per person per day.
And while about 1 250 litres of water go into 1 kg of lentils, about 13 000 litres of water go into 1 kg of beef.

As the world's population continues to grow, living standards increase, diets change and the effects of climate change intensify. If current consumption patterns continue, two-thirds of the global population could be living in water-stressed countries by 2025.

Action on Water, Adaptation and Resilience

The COP27 Presidency initiative, Action on Water, Adaptation and Resilience (AWARE), was launched to catalyse inclusive cooperation to address water as a key to climate change adaptation and resilience. The initiative's mission is to: 1) decrease water losses and improve water supply; 2) support policy and adaptation action; and 3) promote cooperation and interlinkages between water and climate action in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda, in particular SDG 6.