Drought is the most costly calamity - FAO report
Natural disasters have taken a toll of $96 billion from farmers around the world. Half of that sum was registered in losses reported in Asia between 2005-2015, according to the latest UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report.
Drought — which recently has battered farmers in all corners of the globe, North, South, East, and West — was one of the leading culprits. Eighty-three percent of all drought-caused economic losses documented by FAO's study were absorbed by agriculture, with a price tag of $29 billion, shows the report.
Calamities are the "new normal"
"The agriculture sectors — which includes crop and livestock production as well as forestry, fisheries and aquaculture — face many risks, such as climate and market volatility, pests and diseases, extreme weather events, and an ever-increasing number of protracted crises and conflicts. This has become the ‘new normal,' and the impact of climate change will further exacerbate these threats and challenges", declared FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
2.5 billion people are depending on agriculture activities and disaster risk reduction and management must become an integral part of modern agriculture in order to ensure their safety, added da Silva during the presentation of the report.
Here are some data regarding the losses reported at a global level for each calamity included in the analysis:
- Drought - $29 billion in losses to developing world agriculture between 2005 and 2015;
- Floods - $19 billion;
- Earthquakes / landslides / mass movements - $10.5 billion;
- Other meteorological disasters, such as extreme temperatures and storms - $26.5 billion;
- Biological disasters, such as diseases and infestations - $9.5 billion;
- Wildfires - $1 billion.
Asian countries have lost over $48 billion during that time, while Africa's and Latin America's and the Caribbean's nations reported losses of $26 billion and $22 billion, respectively.
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