Soil erosion is when the soil is blown away by the wind or washed away by the rain.

Soil erosion is common in areas with steep slopes, where trees have been cut down, in droughts when crops and other vegetation grows poorly and in rural areas which are overpopulated. Nepal, in the Himalayan Mountains, has severe problems caused by increased population density and steep slopes.

Soil erosion can be reduced by building terraces on hillsides, irrigation schemes to overcome droughts, planting more trees to bind the soil together and make wind breaks, and using fertilisers in overpopulated areas to make the soil more fertile. It is very important that the farming techniques used do not damage the structure of the soil, as this makes it easily eroded. Good farming techniques include contour ploughing, crop rotation and keeping the soil rich in humus.

An example of poor techniques was the "Dust Bowl" in the mid-western states of the U.S.A. in the 1930's. Farmers exhausted the soil by monoculture and left the soil bare after harvesting. Soil erosion is a problem of the developed world as well as the developing.