Paris (AFP)
The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters "endanger the food systems of the planet", warns the FAO Thursday, which would like the international community to invest more to reduce risks and make agricultural systems "more resilient".
Drought, floods, storms, tsunamis, forest fires, pest invasions, epidemics etc.
"make agriculture pay a heavy price in all its sectors", underlines in a report the agency of the United Nations in charge of food and agriculture.
In low-income and middle-income countries, "agriculture absorbed a quarter (26%) of the consequences of disasters between 2008 and 2018," Dominique Burgeon, director in charge of the division, told AFP. emergency and rehabilitation at FAO.
"That represented $ 108.5 billion in lost crop and animal production during this period!"
"These economic losses can have a devastating effect on the lives of people", notes this official who underlines that "more than 2 billion people depend on the agricultural sector for their subsistence".
The previous edition of this report on "The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security" dated from 2017.
The year 2020, "which comes to cap a decade of exacerbated disasters, global warming, retreating glaciers and rising sea levels", added "new challenges": the Covid-19 pandemic which has disorganized food chains as some regions suffered record flooding and large swarms of desert locusts ravaged crops and pastures in several countries in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia, says the organization based in Rome.
"The international community must invest more, and particularly in the prevention" of risks, considers Dominique Burgeon.
The UN is preparing a Food Systems Summit to be held in September at the time of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, as part of the Decade of Action to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 .
A "pre-summit rally" will be held July 19-21 in Rome, the UN and the Italian government said on Wednesday.
It should take place face-to-face for some of the participants and on a virtual platform for the others.
© 2021 AFP