BIO ECONOMY: FAO report reveals hidden costs of agrifood systems – UN on GEÓVoice

BIO ECONOMY: FAO report reveals hidden costs of agrifood systems – UN on GEÓVoice
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Tuesday, 7th November 2023

Although current agrifood systems provide nourishment and sustain economies, they also impose huge hidden costs on health and the environment – the equivalent of at least $10 trillion annually – a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has revealed. 

The figure represents nearly 10 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the 2023 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) – the agency’s flagship report – which covers 154 countries.

Acknowledgment and action

It introduces the concept of the hidden costs and benefits of agrifood systems, offering a framework through which they can be assessed.

The aim is to help decision makers steer global agrifood systems – the whole industry encompassing food and non-food agricultural production – towards greater sustainability.

“In the face of escalating global challenges: food availability, food accessibility and food affordability; climate crisis; biodiversity loss; economic slowdowns and downturns; worsening poverty; and other overlapping crises, the future of our agrifood systems hinges on our willingness to appreciate all food producers, big or small, to acknowledge these true costs, and understand how we all contribute to them, and what actions we need to take,” said FAO Director-General Dongyu Qu. Learn More /…