ABSTRACT
Since mid-century, global population has grown much faster than the cropland area. The trend is likely to continue in the next century, dropping cropland per person to historically low levels. The 10,000-year era of steady expansion was over, and a new era began that stressed raising land productivity. As this high-yielding era shows signs of faltering, concern over the shrinking supply of cropland per person looms ever larger. As grain area per person falls, more and more nations risk losing the capacity to feed them. Assuming that grain area remains constant; grain area per person will fall to 0.08 hectares by 2050. The trend is illustrated starkly in the world's three fastest-growing large countries they are Pakistan, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. In addition to per capita losses, population growth can lead to degradation of cropland, reducing its productivity or even eliminating it from production. Similarly, population pressure can force peasants to overfarm the poor soils of tropical forests.
