{"id":1290382,"name":"Projected cropland under the Towards Sustainability scenario","unit":"hectares","createdAt":"2026-07-10T10:49:31.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-10T10:49:31.000Z","coverage":"","timespan":"2030-2050","datasetId":8038,"shortUnit":"ha","columnOrder":0,"shortName":"cropland_towards_sustainability","catalogPath":"grapher/agriculture/2026-07-03/cropland_projections/cropland_projections#cropland_towards_sustainability","descriptionShort":"Projected area of land used to grow crops, under FAO's \"Towards Sustainability\" scenario, where food and agriculture systems shift towards more sustainable practices.","descriptionProcessing":"- Values correspond to the world totals published in Table 4.12 of the report, converted from million hectares to hectares.\n- The projections start from a 2012 base year (1,567 million hectares, shared by the three scenarios), which is not shown in charts, to avoid overlapping with the observed data.","type":"int","datasetName":"Cropland projections to 2050","updatePeriodDays":0,"datasetVersion":"2026-07-03","nonRedistributable":false,"display":{"unit":"hectares","shortUnit":"ha","numDecimalPlaces":0},"schemaVersion":2,"processingLevel":"major","presentation":{"topicTagsLinks":["Land Use"]},"descriptionKey":["Cropland — called \"arable land\" in the source — is the physical area used to grow crops, including both temporary and permanent crops.","Projections are based on simulations with FAO's Global Agriculture Perspectives System (GAPS) model, starting from a 2012 base year.","In the Towards Sustainability scenario, more inclusive societies and more resource-efficient food production systems ensure universal progress towards Sustainable Development Goal targets. Food is mostly produced with environmentally sustainable methods, and greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced."],"dimensions":{"years":{"values":[{"id":2030},{"id":2050}]},"entities":{"values":[{"id":355,"name":"World","code":"OWID_WRL"}]}},"origins":[{"id":15702,"titleSnapshot":"The future of food and agriculture - Alternative pathways to 2050 - Arable land","title":"The future of food and agriculture - Alternative pathways to 2050","descriptionSnapshot":"World totals of arable land, transcribed from Table 4.12 of the report, including a historical value (1970), the base year of the projections (2012), and projections (2030 and 2050) under each of the three scenarios.","description":"FAO's Global Perspectives Studies report \"The future of food and agriculture - Alternative pathways to 2050\" explores three scenarios of global food and agriculture up to 2050, based on simulations with the FAO Global Agriculture Perspectives System (GAPS) model:\n- Business As Usual (BAU): a continuation of historical trends.\n- Towards Sustainability (TSS): a shift towards more sustainable food systems.\n- Stratified Societies (SSS): a future of increased inequality.","producer":"Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations","citationFull":"FAO. 2018. The future of food and agriculture - Alternative pathways to 2050. Rome. 224 pp.","attributionShort":"FAO","urlMain":"https://www.fao.org/global-perspectives-studies/resources/detail/en/c/1157074/","dateAccessed":"2026-07-03","datePublished":"2018","license":{"url":"https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/I8429EN","name":"CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO"}}]}