FAO food report

Last year the world’s countries set a schedule for sustainable development in the next 15 years and agreed to end famine by 2030. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) collected the most interesting facts about how things are in the domain of food production and supply at the moment.

1. About 80 percent of the food produced globally comes from family farms. These farmers cultivate 70-80 percent of agricultural land. Only 7 percent of the world’s farms are in Europe and Central Asia; 34 percent of them are in China.

2. Currently less than 800 million people live in famine but for almost every 9th person on Earth it is a problem to get the food they need a day. In developing countries the proportion of malnourished people is 13 percent – 25 years ago there were almost twice as many.

3. By 2030 the level of food production has to grow by 60 percent to be able to feed the Earth’s growing population.

4. Every year 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted – in certain countries one third of all the food produced. At global level food waste costs USD 2,600 billion, from which USD 700 billion is environmental expenses and USD 900 billion is the financial burden on society.

5. Each year agricultural production results in 10 billion tons of greenhouse gas.

6. Since 1980 there have been twice as many natural disasters and problems affecting agriculture than before. These caused USD 1,500 billion worth of damage in 10 years.