Food. Feed. Fibre
Our Planet is Ailing.
António Guterres
Through international action and solidarity, we can scale up, land restoration and nature-based solutions for climate action and the benefit of future generations.
By doing so, we can deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and leave no one behind.
UN Secretary-General
With the population of the world growing alarmingly, the demand for land to live and feed is increasing accordingly. The greed to grow more, rampant use of fertilisers, overexploitation of land resources, resulting in fertile areas becoming increasingly more arid and desertification and drought. It is reported that more than 2 billion hectares of productive land is degraded and an additional 300 million hectares of land would be required for food production by 2030. UN stresses the importance to focus on the links between consumption and land.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought came about through the UN General Assembly in 1995 and is organised every year on June 17 and would be known as “Desertification and Drought Day” this year onwards. In 2020, the campaign is being run with the theme “Food. Feed. Fibre.” Sustainable Development goals aim at managing natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, and the Goal 15 focusses on “Life on Land” with a focus to reverse land degradation.
“If we keep producing and consuming, as usual, we will eat into the planet’s capacity to sustain life until there is nothing left but scraps. We all need to make better choices about what we eat and what we wear to help protect and restore the land.”
Ibrahim Thiaw
Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
It is of paramount importance to educate individuals on how to reduce the impact of excess consumption. All of us have to resolve to Live in congruence with surroundings and with just use of resources. We owe to our children the responsibility to retain the resources for them to live happily. There is hope with more and more people choosing organic foods and being aware of the consequences of overconsumption. Bringing awareness is the key to get more and more people to realise their responsibility.
Toons: Reema Jaiswal
Logs: Sai Baba
