Damage and loss

Available data shows us that an increased occurrence and intensity of disasters is the new normal.

Within the first few months of 2020, huge swarms of desert locusts began ravaging countries across the Greater Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Southwest Asia - just one more hit to farmers already impacted by floods, cyclones, hailstorms, animal diseases, droughts, and other shocks.

By its end, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season produced 30 named systems, far surpassing the usual 12-storm annual average.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating lives, livelihoods, and economies the world over.

Agriculture and the billions of farmers who keep the rest of us fed bear the brunt of such shocks - more than any other productive sector. Disasters take lives, but also devastate rural livelihoods, destroy food, and drive up hunger.

What economic and nutritional impacts do such disasters have on the agricultural sector? What can we do to build agricultural systems that are resilient to disasters, diseases, and climate change?

Let’s take a closer look.

Disasters and their economic impact

One of the most direct ways disasters affect agriculture is through lower-than-expected production. This causes direct economic loss to farmers which can cascade along the entire value chain - even affecting the growth of the sector or entire national economies.

From 2008–2018, billions of dollars were lost as a result of declines in crop and livestock production in the aftermath of disasters.

• USD 30 billion was lost in sub-Saharan and North Africa

• USD 29 billion was lost in Latin America and the Caribbean

• USD 8.7 billion was lost across the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean

• USD 49 billion was lost in Asia

Disasters can affect our nutrition too

We’ve seen how disasters can impact agriculture on a food production and economic level. Yet, the fallout from disasters and extreme events are more extensive and complex than the impacts on productivity alone. Disaster-related production losses can translate into significant – and negative – nutritional outcomes including foregone calories and nutrients.

Here’s how many calories and nutrients were potentially lost following disasters.

Calories

Between 2008 and 2018, the crop and livestock production loss in least developed countries (LDCs) and low to middle income countries (LMICs) converts to a total of 6.9 trillion lost kilocalories per year. ^*

In other words, that’s the annual calorie intake of 7 million adults (based on a recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 2 500 calories per day).

Iron ^*

Crop and livestock production loss in least developed countries (LDCs) and low to middle income countries (LMICs) in 2008-2018 converts to a loss of 994 trillion mg of iron - an average of 256 billion mg per year.

That amount is the annual recommended iron intake of 78 million adult men or 47 million adult women (based on an RDA of 9 mg of iron per day for adult men and 15 mg for adult women).

Zinc ^*

Agriculture production loss in least developed countries (LDCs) and low to middle income countries (LMICs) from 2008-2018 converts to 21 trillion mg of zinc lost (or an average of 177 billion mg per year). Or in other words, that is the annual recommended zinc intake of 50 million adult women or 36 million adult men. The RDA of zinc is 11 mg per day for adult men and 8 mg for adult women.

Calcium ^*

In least developed countries (LDCs) and low to middle income countries (LMICs) from 2008-2018, crop and livestock production loss caused by disasters converts to a total of 494 trillion mg of calcium lost.

Based on an RDA of 1 000 mg per day for both adult men and women, that is the annual recommended calcium intake of 9 million people.

Vitamin A ^*

Agricultural production loss in least developed countries (LDCs) and low to middle income countries (LMICs) between 2008–2018 converts to a total of 994 trillion micrograms (mcg) of lost vitamin A. That’s an average of 7 trillion mcg every year.

This corresponds to 21 million adult men or 27 million adult women going without their annual recommended vitamin A intake. The RDA of vitamin A is 900 micrograms per day for adult men and 700 micrograms for adult women.

^* FAO analysis using data from FAOSTAT, EM-DAT CRED and USDA.

The time to act is now

Disasters are nothing new – not to farmers, nor to the rest of us who rely on them for our collective food security. But the imperative of changing how we manage disasters, at this moment in human history, is existentially pressing.

To be effective, national strategies on disaster risk reduction (DDR), emergency response, resilience and climate change adaptation must be firmly grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the particular impact disasters have on agriculture, including:

• Identifying damage and loss patterns.

• Providing breakdowns of impacts for crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture.

• Building profiles of all types of disasters: from rapid-onset large-scale catastrophes like hurricanes, to events that develop slowly over time like droughts; as well as small-scale localized or ‘silent’ disasters, which are often unreported but can be detrimental to livelihoods of small-scale farmers.

• Expanding beyond the impacts of natural hazard-related disasters to consider wider threats, such as pandemics, food chain crises, conflicts and protracted crises.

• Navigating the nexus of disaster assessment, risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Want to know more?

The full report, The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security 2021, offers deep insights into how disasters are affecting agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, and more. It offers policy makers useful recommendations on how to create agricultural systems that are resilient to disasters, diseases, and climate change.

Download the full report