The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) detailed a staggering loss of approximately $3.8 trillion in crops and livestock over the past three decades.
This economic dent, attributed to disastrous events – both natural and man-made, translates to an average annual loss of 123 billion dollars, or 5% of the global annual agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Titled “The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security,” this pivotal new report from FAO provides the inaugural global assessment of the impact disasters have on agricultural production, concentrating on crops and animal wealth.
The report also hints that these figures could potentially be even higher if consistent data regarding losses in the subsidiary sectors of fisheries, aquaculture, and forestry were available.
It underscores the urgent need to improve data and information concerning the effect of disasters on all subsidiary sectors of agriculture, with a view toward establishing competent data systems that can serve as the foundation for effective and informed action.
Quo Shu Dongyu, the Director-General of FAO, remarked in the report’s preface: “Agriculture is one of the sectors most vulnerable and susceptible to disaster risks, given its heavy reliance on natural resources and climatic conditions.
Recurrent disasters erase gains in food security and undermine the sustainability of agricultural and food systems.
Drawing on FAO’s technical expertise, this publication exposes the avenues for effectively confronting risks in agricultural and food systems and illuminates ways to mainstream disaster risk management into agricultural practices and policies.”
The report reveals that, over the last 30 years, low-income and lower-middle-income countries have incurred the highest proportional losses, reaching up to 15% of their agricultural GDP, as a result of disasters – defined as a significant disruption in the functional performance of a community or society.
Disasters have also notably impacted Small Island Developing States, which suffered losses approximating 7% of their agricultural GDP.
