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Young Farmers Lead Land Restoration in Malawi

For Sinoya Kenayala, a 30-year-old farmer in Malawi, land is everything. It is life, legacy and much more. His 1.2 hectare farm in the Kalonga suburbs of the capital, Lilongwe, is his best shot at providing sustenance and a stable life for his four children. Yet, like many farmers and communities dependent on land, the threat of persistent and rapid land degradation is always looming.

The recently published Global Land Outlook 2 by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) warns that between 20 and 40 percent of the Earth’s total land area has suffered some form of degradation. This affects nearly half the world’s population and spans croplands, drylands, wetlands, forests, and grasslands. Yet the burden falls disproportionately on smallholder farmers like Sinoya, rural communities, women, young people, Indigenous peoples, and at-risk groups.

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Photo by Richard Nyoni on Unsplash