As populations grow and climate change creates new conditions, farmers are looking to increase productivity in those areas of the world where climate, soil, or available land is less than ideal for growing crops.
Over the past 10 years, agriculture has used approximately 86% of the world’s accessible freshwater supply, and climate change threatens to reduce water supplies even further in the coming decades. Food security is one of the many human rights that must be provided for as part of an effective response to climate change; every human being has a right to proper nutrition and food security.
As the world’s population approaches 8 billion, the need to feed more people with limited land and resources is growing. The Sahara Desert is expanding 30 miles per year, roughly the same rate as a fingernail grows.
In this gallery you can see the different patterns agricultural areas in the region have, as seen from the satellites of the European Space Agency, Copernicus programme.
