Rome: Although food production has continued to rise, hunger remains a persistent issue, according to the Statistical Yearbook 2024, launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), here today.
The proportion of the global workforce employed in agriculture has also decreased, from 40 per cent in 2000 to 26 per cent in 2022.
In 2023, between 713 and 757 million people were undernourished. Considering the mid-range (733 million), this is about 152 million more people than in 2019. Obesity rates are also rising, particularly in high-income regions. Over 25 per cent of adults in the Americas, Europe and Oceania are obese, reflecting the global challenge of ensuring access to healthy, nutritious food.
Interestingly, the Statistical Yearbook points out that even though the prevalence of undernourishment is highest in Africa, the majority of undernourished people live in Asia.
While the global production of primary crops reached 9.6 billion tonnes in 2022, an increase of 56 per cent compared to 2000, staple crops such as sugar cane, maize, wheat and rice together account for nearly half of global crop production. The book finds that water scarcity remains a growing concern in regions such as the Near East and North Africa, where many countries face extreme water stress, impacting the sustainability of agricultural production. Each year Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia withdraw 9 to almost 40 times their renewable freshwater resources available, the book reveals.
The book finds that even as global agricultural value increased by 89 per cent in real terms over the past two decades, reaching $3.8 trillion in 2022, agriculture’s contribution to global economic output has remained relatively stable. The use of pesticides increased by 70 per cent between 2000 and 2022, with the Americas accounting for half of the global pesticide use in 2022. Inorganic fertilizers used in agriculture reached 185 million tonnes of nutrients in 2022, with 58 per cent of this amount being nitrogen. This represented an increase of 37 per cent compared with 2000.
Greenhouse gas emissions from agrifood systems too have risen by 10 per cent between 2000 and 2022, Farm-gate emissions increased by 15 per cent over the same period, with livestock contributing to around 54 per cent of these emissions. Meat production increased by 55 per cent from 2000 to 2022, with chicken accounting for the largest share of this rise. In 2022, 361 million tonnes of meat were produced globally, with chicken surpassing pork as the most produced meat.
The Yearbook reveals critical insights into the sustainability of global agriculture, food security, and the importance of agrifood systems in employment. It offers an in-depth overview of the most significant trends shaping global agrifood systems. “Timely, accurate and high-quality data and statistics are the cornerstone of solid policy design,” said José Rosero Moncayo, FAO Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Division.
This year’s edition is structured into four thematic chapters covering: the economic dimensions of agriculture; the production, trade, and prices of commodities; food security and nutrition; and sustainability and environmental aspects of agriculture. It highlights critical challenges, including increased temperatures over land, the ongoing global struggle with food insecurity alongside increasing obesity rates, and the environmental pressures faced by agricultural production.
It mentions that the production of vegetable oils too grew by 133 per cent between 2000 and 2021, largely driven by an increase in palm oil production.
FAO claimed the Statistical Yearbook 2024 serves as a vital resource for policymakers, researchers, analysts, and anyone interested in understanding the current state and future trajectory of global food and agriculture.
– global bihari bureau
