Climate Change

With climate change impacts, deforestation, and land use changes accelerating around the world, the need for mapping croplands—which cover 1.2 billion hectares, approximately 12% of Earth’s surface—is growing more urgent.

The FAO Food Price Index rose marginally in April but remained 7.4 percent below its April 2023 level. The slight increase was driven by rising meat, vegetable oil, and cereal prices.

Hunger continues to rise across the globe, with nearly 282 million people facing acute food insecurity in 2023, according to the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC).  This number is up by 24 million from 2022, marking the fifth consecutive year that food insecurity has risen.

This blog is based on finding from the IFPRI discussion paper, From farm to table: Agrifood systems and trade challenges in the Southern Cone.

Introduction

Over the past three decades, the world lost as much as $3.8 trillion in agricultural products as a result of disaster events, according to a new flagship report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. That equates to a loss of around 5 percent of global agricultural GDP per year and has serious implications for food security, agricultural livelihoods, and the sustainability of the global agrifood system.