Disasters Over Last 30 Years Caused USD 3.8 Trillion in Losses

The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that an estimated USD 3.8 trillion in agricultural and livestock products have been lost over the past 30 years due to disasters. The FAO, headquartered in Rome, published a report titled "Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security" assessing the effects of disasters on agricultural production. According to the report, disasters occurring over the past 30 years resulted in an estimated loss of USD 3.8 trillion in agricultural and livestock products. This corresponds to an average annual loss of USD 123 billion, or 5% of global annual agricultural gross domestic product (GDP). The report stated that over the past 30 years, annual average grain losses have been at 69 million tonnes, a figure equivalent to France's entire grain production in 2021. Fruits, vegetables and sugar products followed, with average annual losses of 40 million tonnes. For livestock products such as meat, dairy and eggs, average annual losses were noted at 16 million tonnes. In the report, Asia emerged as the region experiencing the highest total economic losses, followed by Africa, Europe and the Americas. The report also noted that if systematic data on losses in subsectors such as fisheries, aquaculture and forestry were available, the figures mentioned could be higher. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu made the following remarks on the matter: "Agriculture is one of the sectors most exposed to and vulnerable to disaster risk due to its deep dependence on natural resources and climate conditions. This report shows opportunities to proactively address risks in agrifood systems while exploring ways to mainstream disaster risk management." Source