New
ScienceMore in Science→
Armed Conflict Erodes Farmland Long After Fighting Begins, Global Study Finds
Key Takeaways
- A study published in Nature Food on Sept. 24 combines 30-meter-resolution global cropland maps from 2000–2020 with more than 460,000 georeferenced conflict events across 155 countries.
- Conflict-exposed zones covered about 3% of global land area but held more than 6% of the world's cropland in 2020, showing farmland is disproportionately exposed to fighting.
- Armed conflict was linked to an average 3.01% reduction in cropland area, or an annual loss of 14.46 hectares (35.7 acres) per conflict-exposed buffer region.
- Conflict-affected areas saw 23.7% greater cropland loss than comparable non-conflict areas, with effects persisting for years and the largest losses in western Africa, eastern Africa and Southeast Asia.
DE
DT Editorial Team··via phys.org