The phenomenon of land degradation is increasing, in severity and extent, in many parts of the world, with about 40 percent of the worlds land surface degraded (25% has been degraded over the past quarter-century alone) (Bai et al., As summarized in Table 7.1, agriculture and land degradation contribute significantly to the problem of climate change, by generating GHG emissions leading to warming, as well as impacting land surface albedo and creating adverse weather patterns. Notwithstanding significant uncertainty in estimates, the agriculture, forestry, and other land use sector accounts for 24 percent of emissions of GHGs, the second largest emitter following the energy sector (IPCC, 2014a). The most important source of GHG emissions in agriculture is methane (CH4) emissions from enteric fermentation in livestock and nitrous oxide (N20) emissions from synthetic fertilizer application.