Land degradation has far-reaching consequences that affect many realms of life, sometimes far away, but land is above all a powerful element of the solution to the major challenges of our time. The major process of land degradation is soil erosion (due to water and wind erosion), contributing to over 71% of the land degradation in the country. Soil erosion due to water alone contributes to about 61.7% and that by wind erosion 10.24%. The other processes include problems of water logging, salinity-alkalinity.

Land degradation results in soil erosion, decline in water table, reduced agricultural productivity, loss of bio-diversity, decline in groundwater and availability of water in the affected regions. All these affect the lives and livelihoods of the populations, often eventually precipitating forced migration and socio-economic conflicts.

Unsustainable resource management practices are often induced by population pressures and poverty. People affected by desertification often need to draw on their limited assets in order to survive, which accentuates their poverty. This constitutes a vicious cycle linking deteriorating natural resources to deteriorating livelihoods as people need to encroach further on fragile soils, sparse vegetation and limited water resources to meet their basic needs for food, shelter and livelihood.

As per the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India published by the Space Application Centre in 2007, about 32.07 % of the land is undergoing various forms of degradation and 25% of the geographical area is affected by desertification. About 69% of the country’s lands are drylands and degradation of these lands has severe implications for the livelihood and food security of millions.