Three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet 

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 2021 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report – Making agrifood systems much resilient to shocks and stresses – states that, without due preparation, unpredictable shocks volition proceed to undermine these systems. 

The study defines shocks arsenic short-term events that person antagonistic effects connected a system, people’s well-being, assets, livelihoods, information and quality to withstand aboriginal shocks. 

More resilience 

FAO stressed the request for countries to make their systems much resilient to abrupt shocks, like the COVID-19 pandemic, which played a large part successful the latest planetary hunger surge. 

At the virtual launch event, FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, said, “the pandemic highlighted some the resilience and the weakness of our agrifood systems”. 

Agrifood systems - the web of activities progressive successful the accumulation of nutrient and non-food cultivation products and their storage, processing, transportation, organisation and depletion - produce 11 cardinal tonnes of nutrient a twelvemonth and employment billions of people, straight oregon indirectly.  

The UN agency underscored the urgency of strengthening their capableness to endure shocks, including extreme upwind events and surges successful works and carnal diseases and pests. 

While nutrient accumulation and proviso chains person historically been susceptible to clime extremes, equipped conflicts oregon increases successful planetary nutrient prices, the frequence and severity of these shocks are on the rise. 

Concrete action 

Moreover, a disruption to captious transport links could propulsion nutrient prices up for immoderate 845 cardinal people. 

The report includes country-level indicators in over one hundred Member States, by analyzing factors specified arsenic transport networks, commercialized flows and the availability of steadfast and varied diets. 

While low-income countries mostly look much greater challenges, middle-income countries are besides astatine risk. 

In Brazil, for example, 60 per cent of the country’s export worth comes from conscionable 1 trading partner, narrowing its options should a daze hit that partner country. 

Even high-income countries, such arsenic Australia and Canada, are astatine hazard due to the fact that of the agelong distances progressive successful the organisation of food. 

Recommendations 

Based connected the evidence in the report, FAO makes a bid of recommendations. 

The key is diversification – of actors, input sources, production, markets and supply chains – to create aggregate pathways for absorbing shocks. 

Supporting the improvement of tiny and medium agrifood enterprises and cooperatives would also help support diverseness successful home worth chains. 

Another cardinal origin is connectivity. Well-connected networks flooded disruptions faster by shifting sources of proviso and channels for transport, marketing, inputs and labour. 

Finally, improving the resilience of susceptible households is captious to guarantee a satellite escaped from hunger. This tin beryllium done by improving access to assets, diversified income sources and societal extortion programmes.  

CIAT/NeilPalmer

A fig of beverage pickers successful Kenya are shifting to nutrient different crops arsenic clime alteration threatens beverage plantation successful the country.