causes decreased food production, damaging ecological effects, and an overall decrease in the quality of living in Africa. This issue would lessen if fertilizers and other cropping supplies were more affordable and thus used more. The United Nations has commissioned a Global Assessment of Human Induced Soil Degradation (GLASOD) to further investigate the causes and state of the soil. Access to information collected is freely available, and it is hoped that awareness will be raised among politicians in threatened areas. Air pollution The air in Africa is greatly polluted due to multiple reasons stated below. The primitive method of farming that takes place in most areas in Africa is certainly a causal factor. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 11.3 million hectares of land are being lost annually to agriculture, grazing, uncontrolled burning and fuelwood consumption. Combustion of wood and charcoal are used for cooking and this results to a release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is a toxic pollutant in the atmosphere. Also, due to the poor supply of power, most homes have to rely on fuel and diesel in generators to keep their electricity running. Air pollution in Africa is coming to the forefront and must not be ignored. For example, in South Africa the mercury levels are severe due to coal combustion and gold mining. Mercury is absorbed from the air into the soil and water. The soil allows the crops to absorb the mercury, which humans ingest. Animals eat the grass which has absorbed the mercury and again humans may ingest these animals. Fish absorb the mercury from the water, humans also ingest the fish and drink the water that have absorbed the mercury. This increases the mercury levels in humans. This can cause serious health risks. It is expected that Africa could represent the half of the world's pollution emissions by 2030, warns Cathy Liousse director of research of atmospheric sounding of the CNRS, along with many other researchers. According to the report, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a fast increasing pollution, derived from many causes, such as burning wood for cooking, open burning of waste, traffic, agri-food and chemical industries, the dust from the Sahara carried by the winds through the Sahel area, all this reinforced by a greater population growth and urbanisation. The World Health Organization reports of the need to intervene when more than one third of