FAO Digital Media Hub - Impact of Disasters and Crises Report 2021

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Impact of Disasters and Crises Report 2021

Disasters take heavy toll on agri-food systems as new threats emerge.

New FAO report finds agricultural losses from natural hazards continue to soar, inflicting economic damage and undermining nutrition.

Duration 5m9s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 03/17/2021 10:07 PM

File size 566.68 MB

Unique ID UF2T7L

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist LOCATION: Various, please check shotlist

DATE: Various, please check shotlist

SOUND: Natural

LENGHT: 05’09’’

SOURCE: FAO

RESTRICTION: Please give on-screen credit to FAO

SHOTLIST

Yemen, Shabwah Governorate, Beiyhan District, July 2020

1. Desert Locust eating a leaf

2. Desert Locust hopper bands on a plant

Kenya, Turkana County, June 2020

3. Desert Locust hopper bands jumping on the ground

4. Hopper eating a green leaf

Ethiopia, Jijiga, 13, 14 November 2019

5. Zoom out on a locust swarm flying

6. Wide-shot of a locust swarm flying

Kenya, Seren, Samburu county, 4 April, 2020

7. Wide shot of an FAO airplane spraying pesticide

Kenya, Murkebin Hill, Raraiti, Samburu East Constituency, Samburu County, 9 September 2020

8. FAO airplane spraying desert locust swarms

Kenya, Turkana County, June 2020

9. Tilt up to a man spraying pesticide on hoppers

10. Men spraying hoppers on a net

11. Man spraying hoppers in a field

Syria, Aleppo governorate, April 2020

12. Farmer wearing a mask installing low tunnel arch as part of an FAO project helping farmers produce amid COVID-19 pandemic

13. FAO expert following the work

14. Farmers wearing masks fixing the low tunnel arches

15. Hand distributing topsoil in a polystyrene box for seedling

16. Farmer with a mask putting topsoil in a polystyrene box for seedling

Somalia, May 2016

17. Wide shots of dry land in Somalia

18. Various of beneficiaries of FAO Cash-for-work project working in the field

19. Detail of dead cattle

20. Cattle grazing in dry field

Lesotho, Leribe District, July 2017

21. Woman in a maize field harvesting maize from the stalk

22. Man and children harvesting maize

Viet Nam, July 25 2017

23. Various shots of the aftermath of a typhoon

Philippines, Lubao, Pampanga Province, November 2017

24. Various aerial shots of damaged coconut palms

Haiti, 2016

25. Pan left showing damages caused by Hurricane Matthew

26. Tracking shot of aftermath of Hurricane Matthew

Philippines, Lubao, Pampanga Province, November 2017

27. Wide shot of a man installing a battery on a drone as part of an FAO project to map out at-risk areas of agricultural land

28. Close up of a battery being installed on a drone

29. Drone being launched in the sky

30. Drone mapping of fields

Sudan, Azaza Village 9, 10 November 2020

31. Various of flooded fields

32. FAO staff disembarking from a UN marked 4x4 vehicle to assess the damages caused by floods

33. FAO staff interacting with local farmers

Kenya, Nairobi West, 18 October 2017

34. Aerial shot of a dairy farm part of a FAO project to prevent Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

35. Various of a dairy farm and workers

Bangladesh, Dhaka, 18 October 2017

36. Various of a poultry Farm part of an FAO project to prevent Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

Bangladesh, Dhaka, 19 October 2017

37. Laboratory technician examining a chicken with assistant holding chicken as part an FAO project to prevent Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

38. Laboratory technician putting a swab in the chicken’s mouth

39. Masked laboratory technician looking through a microscope

40. Close up of a gloved hand turning the lens of the microscope

41. Close up of a gloved hand working with a petri dish

Syria, Al Ghezlaneye, Syria, 18 July 2017

42. Veterinarian preparing spray for parasites control as part of an FAO and the Syria Veterinary Medical Association animal health campaign

43. Various of veterinarian spraying parasiticides on sheep

44. Various of veterinarian giving treatment to sheep

END

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Script Agriculture absorbs the bulk of the financial losses and damages wrought by disasters which have grown in frequency, intensity, and complexity, says FAO in a new report released today.

At no other point in history have agri-food systems confronted with such an array of new and unprecedented threats, including megafires, extreme weather, unusually large desert locust swarms, and emerging biological threats like the COVID-19 pandemic. These hazards not only take lives but also devastate agricultural livelihoods and inflict cascading negative economic consequences at the household, community, national and regional levels that can endure for generations, the report says.

According to the report, annual occurrence of disasters is now more than three times that of the 1970s and 1980s. Relative to agriculture, industry, commerce and tourism taken as a whole, on its own agriculture absorbs the disproportionate share of 63 percent of impact from disasters, with the least developed countries (LDCs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bearing the major brunt of these scourges.

Thus, between 2008 and 2018, the impacts of natural disasters cost the agricultural sectors of developing country economies over $108 billion in damaged or lost crop and livestock production. Such damage can be particularly detrimental to livelihoods of smallholder and subsistence farmers, pastoralists, and fishers.

Over the analyzed period, Asia was the most hard-hit region, with overall economic losses adding up to a staggering $49 billion, followed by Africa at $30 billion, and Latin America and Caribbean at $29 billion.

"The upheaval set in motion by COVID-19 may push even more families and communities into deeper distress," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in the foreword to the report. "Disaster impact is pervasive and requires immediate efforts to better assess and understand its dynamics, so that it may be reduced and managed in integrated and innovative ways. The urgency and importance of doing so have never been greater".

Major threats

The report identifies drought as the single greatest culprit of agricultural production loss, followed by floods, storms, pests and diseases, and wildfires. Over 34 percent of crop and livestock production loss in LDCs and LMICs is traced to drought, costing the sector $37 billion overall. Drought impacts agriculture almost exclusively. The sector sustains 82 percent of all drought impact, compared to 18 percent in all other sectors.

Crop and livestock pests, diseases and infestations have also become an important stressor for the sector. Such biological disasters caused nine percent of all crop and livestock production loss in the period from 2008 to 2018. The potential threat of disasters of this category was rendered evident in 2020 when huge swarms of desert locusts ravaged across the Greater Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Southwest Asia destroying crops and jeopardising food security.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic is placing an additional burden on agri-food systems exacerbating existing, systemic risks with cascading effects on lives, livelihoods, and economies worldwide.

Disaster impacts on food security and nutrition

Disasters extend beyond the economic realm having deleterious consequences for food security and nutrition. For the first time ever, this edition of the FAO report converts economic losses into caloric and nutrition equivalents.

For example, it estimates that crop and livestock production loss in LDCs and LMICs between 2008 and 2018 were equivalent to a loss of 6.9 trillion kilocalories per year. This equals the annual calorie intake of seven million adults.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, disaster impacts during that same time frame convert to a loss of 975 calories per capita per day, accounting for 40 percent of recommended daily allowance, followed by Africa (559 calories) and Asia (283 calories).

A disaster resilient future is possible
Investing in resilience and disaster risk reduction, especially data gathering and analysis for evidence-informed action, is of paramount importance to ensure agriculture's crucial role in achieving sustainable future, FAO's report argues.

Holistic responses and cross-sectoral collaboration are key in the disaster response. Countries must adopt a multi-hazard and multi- sectoral systemic risk management approach to anticipate, prevent, prepare for and respond to disaster risk in agriculture. Strategies need to integrate not only natural hazards but also anthropogenic and biological threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and must be based on an understanding of the systemic nature and interdependencies of risks.

Innovations such as remote sensing, geospatial information gathering, drones and disaster robotics, and machine learning are powerful new assessment and data gathering tools that have much to offer in the quest to reduce disaster risks in agriculture.

In addition to efficient governance, it is crucial to promote public-private partnerships to address the urgent need for investment in reducing agriculture's susceptibility to disasters and climate change.

About the report

FAO's recurring report The Impact of Disasters and Crises on Agriculture and Food Security presents the most recent trends in agricultural production loss attributed to disasters across all agricultural sectors. The 2021 edition covers 457 disasters in 109 countries across all regions and income categories, including for the first time upper-middle- and high-income countries (UMICs and HICs).

Of the 109 countries to register disaster-related agriculture loss, 94 are in the LDC and LMIC categories, where 389 disasters hampered agricultural production.

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