Major new report on repurposing government support to agricultural producers out now!
Today, the three heads of FAO, UNDP and UNEP joined forces to launch a landmark report on repurposing government support to farmers.
Global support to producers in the agricultural sector amounts to $540 billion per year, making up 15 percent of total agricultural production value. By 2030, this is projected to soar up more than three times to $1.759 trillion.
Yet, 87 percent of this support, approximately $470 billion, is price distorting and environmentally and socially harmful.
The report, which includes contributions from the IMF, WHO and IFPRI, tackles the current state of public money to agricultural producers, scenarios of projected impacts of removing or eliminating certain support measures, as well as a guide to help countries redirect their support to benefit people and planet. The report comes just ahead of next week's UN Food Systems Summit 2021, a global gathering where governments and civil society will come together to commit action to transform the world's food systems.
The Director-General of FAO, QU Dongyu, said: This report, released on the eve of the UN Food Systems Summit, is a wake-up call for governments around the world to rethink agricultural support schemes and contribute to the Four Betters: Better nutrition, Better Production, a Better Environment and a Better Life".
Members of the Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme - including MAFAP Manager Christian Derlagen and MAFAP Economist Valentina Pernchele - were heavily involved in the analysis and writing of this first inter-agency report on repurposing agricultural support. Marco V. Sánchez, Deputy Director of FAO's Agrifood Economics Division, was Lead Technical Author.
To read the full report, click here. To read the report “In Brief”, click here.
See the full press release. Watch the social media video.