On the 13th local time, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released an assessment report on the impact of disasters on global agricultural production and food security, which pointed out that disaster events have caused approximately $3.8 trillion in crop and livestock production losses over the past 30 years.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of China stated that the report titled "The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security" is the first global assessment conducted by the organization on how disasters affect agricultural production. The report states that agriculture is mainly affected by meteorological and hydrological hazards, geological hazards, environmental hazards, and biological hazards, but social hazards such as armed conflicts and chemicals also pose potential threats.
The report points out that the frequency of global disaster events has increased from about 100 per year in the 1970s to about 400 per year in the past 20 years, and the intensity and complexity of disaster events are also increasing.
According to the report's assessment, from 1992 to 2021, disasters caused a cumulative global loss of 3.8 trillion US dollars in agricultural production, with an average annual loss of approximately 123 billion US dollars, equivalent to 5% of the global annual agricultural output value, which means an annual loss of approximately 300 million tons of agricultural products.
Among them, the average annual loss of grains is as high as 69 million tons, the average annual loss of fruits, vegetables, and sugar crops is close to 40 million tons, and the average annual loss of meat, dairy products, and eggs is about 16 million tons. Although the absolute value of losses caused by disasters is higher in high-income countries, low to middle-income countries, and high to middle-income countries, the proportion of such losses in agricultural added value is higher in low-income countries, especially small island developing States.
The report proposes three main action suggestions, including improving data and information on how disasters affect agriculture, developing disaster reduction methods targeting multiple sectors and disasters, and increasing investment to enhance the resilience of agriculture to disasters and reduce risks.
