Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) released State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) Report 2023
The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2023 looks into the true cost of food for sustainable agrifood systems. The report introduces the concept of hidden environmental, health and social costs and benefits of agrifood systems and proposes an approach – true cost accounting (TCA) – to assess them
For the first time ever, FAO will dedicate two consecutive editions of FAO SOFA Report 2023 to same theme.
2023 report presents national-level True Cost Accounting (TCA) assessments to uncover hidden impacts of agrifood systems while 2024 report will focus on in-depth targeted assessments to identify the ways to mitigate them.
Key findings FAO SOFA Report 2023
- Global quantified HCs of agrifood systems amounts to 10 trillion dollars or more.
- HCs arising from dietary patterns lead to diseases and lower labour productivity and are most prominent in high- and middle-income countries.
- Environmental HCs constitute over 20% of quantified HCs and are equivalent to almost one-third of agricultural value added.
- HCs, estimated at 27% of Low Income Countries’ GDP, are associated with poverty and undernourishment.
Need for TCA Estimation: Measure actual impact of complex agrisystems; Make responsible decisions and improve sustainability; Improve performance and resilience of agrisystems.
Factors affecting current functioning of Agri-food systems: Institutional Policy and distribution lapses, Corruption, Free riding etc.
Challenges in calculating True cost: Lack of political will, resistance to change, data availability and its quality, under reporting etc.
About FAO
- FAO (HQ: Rome) is a specialized agency of United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
- India is member.
Definitions of Terms
- TCA: Holistic and systemic approach to measuring and valuing environmental, social, health and economic costs and benefits generated by agrifood systems to facilitate improved decisions by policymakers, businesses, farmers, investors and consumers.
- Hidden Cost (HC): Any cost to individuals or society that is not reflected in market price of a product or service
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