Reversing the great degradation of nature through economic development

We analyze past and anticipated future trends in crop yields, per capita consumption, and population to estimate agricultural land requirements globally by 2050 and 2100. Assuming “business as usual,” high-income countries are expected to show little or no net growth in cropland by the end of the century whereas land requirements will nearly double in low-income countries. We consider two possible strategies that might reduce cropland expansion: decreasing   per capita caloric consumption in the high-income countries and accelerating the economic development of the low-income countries. Our analysis suggests that accelerating economic development in low-income countries would have a greater impact on reducing global cropland expansion than lowering consumption in high-income countries. Economic development would reduce population growth and improve crop yields to an extent that could more than offset increased per capita consumption in these countries. Combining the two strate..., , All of the data files are analyzed using R., , # Reversing the great degradation of nature through economic development

This README file was generated on 2025-03-07 by Erik Nelson.

## GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of Dataset: Reversing the Great Degradation of Nature through Economic Development.
2. Author Information
Name: Erik Nelson
Institution: Bowdoin College
Address: Brunswick, ME USA
Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

Some datasets in this project give country-level statistics on land use, agricultural production, crop yield, kilocalorie consumption, agricultural trade volumes, and population for the years 1961 through 2018.

Other datasets in this project give statistics on land use, agricultural production, crop yield, kilocalorie consumption, and population in the United States from the mid-19th century through 2018.

Other datasets in this project give future projections of country-level crop yields, kilocalorie consumption, kilocalorie trade, population, and gross domestic product p...