Environmental land degradation is one of the most serious threats to the environment worldwide. It is a threat to biodiversity, human health, and the crops upon which many people depend on for survival. Earlier this month, IFPRI Videographer Milo Mitchell traveled to Uzbekistan to document some of the worst land degradation in the world, where climate change and overuse have led to saline soils that cause respiratory illnesses and are unfit for most crops.
As part of a documentary film project for the Economics of Land Degradation global initiative (ELD), Mitchell is documenting the severity of land degradation in four case study countries—Uzbekistan, Niger, Senegal and Argentina—capturing the severity of land degradation along with the efforts of scientists, farmers, and policymakers to combat it.
In Uzbekistan, he joined an IFPRI delegation to observe the work of a successful regional consortium project led by the government of Uzbekistan and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to establish new wheat varieties more resistant to the salt-saturated soil and identify new soil- and water-conserving agricultural practices.
By documenting a broad perspective of the interventions being taken in Uzbekistan and other countries, the ELD video project aims to better inform the world about the costs of action vs. inaction in combating land degradation.
If you are using Internet Explorer 8, please view slideshow on Flickr
Chapter by Ephraim Nknoya in Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems, 2013
Economics of Land Degradation global initiative website
Related World Environment Day events:
United Nations Think.Eat.Save campaign
FAO study on Global Food Losses and Food Waste
