The environmental disasters cause losses of about US$ 123,000 million a year, which represents 5% of all world production, according to the latest yearbook published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The annual report, which analyzes data collected around the world until 2021, also indicates that the cost of following a healthy diet rose 4.3% in that year compared to the previous year, to a total of US$3.66 per person per day in parity. purchasing power (PPP).
“Timely, accurate and high-quality data and statistics are the cornerstone of robust policy design, where decisions are based on evidence and monitoring and evaluation depend on robust statistical systems”José Rosero Moncayo, director of the Statistics Division of the FAO.
Among the data highlighted in the report, the regional differences in food loss stand out, reaching 20% in sub-Saharan Africa and just 9% in Europe and North America.
Furthermore, he estimates that the natural disasters have caused “losses in agricultural and livestock production worth US$ 3.8 billion, which corresponds to an average loss of US$ 123,000 million.”
The largest losses occurred in Asia, followed by the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania.
Regarding the cost of maintaining a healthy diet, analysts point out that between 2020 and 2021 it increased by more than 5% in all regions except North America and Europe, up to US$ 3.66 according to purchasing power parity values per person per day. .
The study also highlights that “More than 3.1 billion people worldwide, or 42%, could not afford a healthy diet in 2021.”
For its part, the percentage of people employed in agriculture has fallen to 27% of the global workforce, some 873 million, well below the 1,027 million, 40%, who worked in the sector in 2000. .
Even so, the global added value generated by the agricultureforestry and fishing grew by 84% in real terms between 2000 and 2021, reaching US$3.7 trillion in 2021, with Asia being the main contributor.
Cereals are the most traded commodity by quantity in 2021, while sugar cane, corn, wheat and rice account for more than half of the crops.
Greenhouse gas emissions from agri-food systems increased by 10% between 2000 and 2021, especially due to livestock farms, which account for half.
Source: Gestion
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