There are 1.4 billion poor people living on less than US$1.25 a day. One billion of them live in rural areas where agriculture is their main source of livelihood. The ‘green revolution’ in agriculture that swept large parts of the developing world during the 1960s and 1970s dramatically increased agricultural productivity and reduced poverty. In the past 50 years, however, new practices have developed that may increase agricultural production in the short term, but can have unforeseen costs in the long term. Land degradation has an impact on the natural regenerative capacity of the land and the ability of natural processes to sustain production in the future, which is a cause for concern.