The State of Food and Agriculture 2025

Special chapters and themes of The State of Food and Agriculture

Since 1957, each edition of The State of Food and Agriculture report has included one or more special studies addressing problems of long-term significance. Earlier reports, which primarily focused on agricultural statistics, featured special chapters on diverse topics. Beginning with the 2003–04 edition, however, the publication adopted a topic-based format – centring each issue around a single, overarching theme.

1957	Factors influencing the trend of food consumption
	Postwar changes in some institutional factors affecting agriculture
1958	Food and agricultural developments in Africa south of the Sahara
	The growth of forest industries and their impact on the world’s forests
1959	Agricultural incomes and levels of living in countries at different stages of economic development
	Some general problems of agricultural development in less-developed countries in the light of postwar experience
1960	Programming for agricultural development
1961	Land reform and institutional change
	Agricultural extension, education and research in Africa, Asia and Latin America
1962	The role of forest industries in the attack on economic underdevelopment
	The livestock industry in less-developed countries
1963	Basic factors affecting the growth of productivity in agriculture
	Fertilizer use: spearhead of agricultural development
1964	Protein nutrition: needs and prospects
	Synthetics and their effects on agricultural trade
1966	Agriculture and industrialization
	Rice in the world food economy
1967	Incentives and disincentives for farmers in developing countries
	The management of fishery resources
1968	Raising agricultural productivity in developing countries through technological improvement
	Improved storage and its contribution to world food supplies
1969	Agricultural marketing improvement programmes: some lessons from recent experience
	Modernizing institutions to promote forestry development
1970	Agriculture at the threshold of the Second Development Decade
1971	Water pollution and its effects on living aquatic resources and fisheries
1972	Education and training for development
	Accelerating agricultural research in the developing countries
1973	Agricultural employment in developing countries
1974	Population, food supply and agricultural development
1975	The Second United Nations Development Decade: mid-term review and appraisal
1976	Energy and agriculture
1977	The state of natural resources and the human environment for food and agriculture
1978	Problems and strategies in developing regions
1979	Forestry and rural development
1980	Marine fisheries in the new era of national jurisdiction
1981	Rural poverty in developing countries and means of poverty alleviation
1982	Livestock production: a world perspective
1983	Women in developing agriculture
1984	Urbanization, agriculture and food systems
1985	Energy use in agricultural production Environmental trends in food and agriculture
	Agricultural marketing and development
1986	Financing agricultural development
1987–88	Changing priorities for agricultural science and technology in developing countries
1989	Sustainable development and natural resource management
1990	Structural adjustment and agriculture
1991	Agricultural policies and issues: lessons from the 1980s and prospects for the 1990s
1992	Marine fisheries and the law of the sea: a decade of change
1993	Water policies and agriculture
1994	Forest development and policy dilemmas
1995	Agricultural trade: entering a new era?
1996	Food security: some macroeconomic dimensions
1997	The agroprocessing industry and economic development
1998	Rural non-farm income in developing countries
2000	World food and agriculture: lessons from the past 50 years
2001	Economic impacts of transboundary plant pests and animal diseases
2002	Agriculture and global public goods ten years after the Earth Summit
2003–04	Agricultural biotechnology: meeting the needs of the poor?
2005	Agriculture trade and poverty: can trade work for the poor?
2006	Food aid for food security?
2007	Paying farmers for environmental services
2008	Biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities
2009	Livestock in the balance
2010–11	Women in agriculture: closing the gender gap for development
2012	Investing in agriculture for a better future
2013	Food systems for better nutrition
2014	Innovation in family farming
2015	Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty
2016	Climate change, agriculture and food security
2017	Leveraging food systems for inclusive rural transformation
2018	Migration, agriculture and rural development
2019	Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction
2020	Overcoming water challenges in agriculture
2021	Making agrifood systems more resilient to shocks and stresses
2022	Leveraging agricultural automation for transforming agrifood systems
2023	Revealing the true cost of food to transform agrifood systems
2024	Value-driven transformation of agrifood systems

This flagship publication is part of The State of the World series of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Required citation:
FAO. 2025. The State of Food and Agriculture 2025 – Addressing land degradation across landholding scales. Rome.
https://doi.org/10.4060/cd7067en

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ISSN 0081-4539 (print)
ISSN 1564-3352 (online)
ISBN 978-92-5-140142-2
© FAO, 2025

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RUSSIAN FEDERATION. Aerial view of cereal fields.