You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie chart below shows the main reasons why agricultural land becomes less productive. The table shows how these causes affected three regions of the world during the 1990s.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Model Answer 1:

The pie chart shows that there are four main causes of farmland becoming degraded in the world today. Globally, 65% of degradation is caused by too much animal grazing and tree clearance, constituting 35% and 30% respectively. A further 28% of global degradation is due to over-cultivation of crops. Other causes account for only 7% collectively.

These causes affected different regions differently in the 1990s, with Europe having as much as 9.8% of degradation due to deforestation, while the impact of this on Oceania and North America was minimal, with only 1.7% and 0.2% of land affected respectively. Europe, with the highest overall percentage of land degraded (23%), also suffered from over-cultivation (7.7%) and over-grazing (5.5%). In contrast, Oceania had 13% of degraded farmland and this was mainly due to over-grazing (11.3%). North America had a lower proportion of degraded land at only 5%, and the main causes of this were over-cultivation (3.3%) and, to a lesser extent, over-grazing (1.5%).

Overall, it is clear that Europe suffered more from farmland degradation than the other regions and the main causes there were deforestation and over-cultivation.

Grade: 9

This model has been prepared by an examiner as an example of a very good answer. However, please note that this is just one example out of many possible approaches.

Model Answer 2:

The given pie chart illustrates the chief reasons involved in the less productivity of farmlands, and the table represents the effects of these reasons on three continents from 1990 to 2000.

Overall, over-grazing was the main factor in land degradation, followed by deforestation and over-cultivation. Moreover, Europe was the most affected continent in the 90s decade.

Turning into details, over a third of land degradation was due to over-grazing. Deforestation also made a significant contribution to soil degradation at 30%, while 28% of the degradation was due to excessive farming. There were other reasons involved, the percentage of which was a modest 7%.

Concerning the effects on the regions, land degradation affected Europe, Oceania, and North America differently. Europe was significantly affected and lost nearly one-fourth of its land from 1990 to 2000, mostly caused by deforestation and over-cultivation (approximately 10% and 8%, respectively). In Oceania, out of the 13% of the degraded land, a massive 11.3% was due to over-grazing. However, in North America, only 5% of the land was degraded, and over-cultivation accounted for the main reason at 3.3%