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Book (series)FlagshipThe State of Food and Agriculture 2023
Revealing the true cost of food to transform agrifood systems
2023Agrifood systems generate significant benefits to society, including the food that nourishes us and jobs and livelihoods for over a billion people. However, their negative impacts due to unsustainable business-as-usual activities and practices are contributing to climate change, natural resource degradation and the unaffordability of healthy diets. Addressing these negative impacts is challenging, because people, businesses, governments and other stakeholders lack a complete picture of how their activities affect economic, social and environmental sustainability when they make decisions on a day-to-day basis.The State of Food and Agriculture 2023 looks into the true cost of food for sustainable agrifood systems. The report introduces the concept of hidden environmental, health and social costs and benefits of agrifood systems and proposes an approach – true cost accounting (TCA) – to assess them. To operationalize the TCA approach, the report proposes a two-phase assessment process, first relying on national-level TCA assessments to raise awareness and then moving towards in-depth and targeted evaluations to prioritize solutions and guide transformative actions. It provides a first attempt at national-level assessments for 154 countries, suggesting that global hidden costs from agrifood systems amount to at least to 10 trillion 2020 PPP dollars. The estimates indicate that low-income countries bear the highest burden of the hidden costs of agrifood systems relative to national income. Despite the preliminary nature of these estimates, the analysis reveals the urgent need to factor hidden costs into decision-making for the transformation of agrifood systems. Innovations in research and data, alongside investments in data collection and capacity building, are needed to scale the application of TCA, especially in low- and middle-income countries, so that it can become a viable tool to inform decision- and policymaking in a transparent and consistent way. -
Book (series)Technical studyThe impact of climate variability and extremes on agriculture and food security - An analysis of the evidence and case studies
Background paper for The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018
2020Also available in:
No results found.Global climate studies show that not only temperatures are increasing and precipitation levels are becoming more varied, all projections indicate these trends will continue. It is therefore imperative that we understand changes in climate over agricultural areas and their impacts on agriculture production and food security. This study presents new analysis on the impact of changing climate on agriculture and food security, by examining the evidence on recent climate variability and extremes over agricultural areas and the impact of these on agriculture and food security. It shows that more countries are exposed to increasing climate variability and extremes and the frequency (the number of years exposed in a five-year period) and intensity (the number of types of climate extremes in a five-year period) of exposure over agricultural areas have increased. The findings of this study are compelling and bring urgency to the fact that climate variability and extremes are proliferating and intensifying and are contributing to a rise in global hunger. The world’s 2.5 billion small-scale farmers, herders, fishers, and forest-dependent people, who derive their food and income from renewable natural resources, are most at risk and affected. Actions to strengthen the resilience of livelihoods and food systems to climate variability and extremes urgently need to be scaled up and accelerated. -
Book (series)YearbookWorld Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2024 2024
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No results found.The Statistical Yearbook 2024 offers a synthesis of the major factors at play in the global food and agricultural landscape. Statistics are presented in four thematic chapters, covering the economic importance of agricultural activities, inputs, outputs and factors of production, their implications for food security and nutrition and their impacts on the environment. The Yearbook is meant to constitute a primary tool for policymakers, researchers and analysts, as well as the general public interested in the past, present and future path of food and agriculture.