Reducing the environmental consequences of agriculture

The comprehensive assessment on water management in agriculture is being finalised and the book "water for food, water for life: the comprehensive assessment" will be available at the end of the year. The first in a series issue briefs that summarise the key messages coming out from individual chapters is now available here. The first issue brief is about agriculture and ecosystems and entitled 'Reaping what we sow: Acting now to reduce the negative environmental consequences of agriculture'. Historically, agriculture has been a major driver of ecosystem loss and degradation. But the comprehensive assessment on water management in agriculture suggests that by changing how we manage water and land resources for agriculture, we can mitigate or even avoid many of these negative impacts.