By now you might’ve seen the mind-boggling numbers from the United Nations this week: The hidden environmental, health, and social costs of our agri-food systems amount to at least $10 trillion a year — representing almost 10% of global GDP.
The Food and Agriculture Organization’s flagship The State of Food and Agriculture 2023 report uses true cost accounting to put a price tag on market, institutional, and policy failures. It’s a big deal because, well, knowing the full cost of a problem is an important step before solving it, and the idea is to push global agri-food systems toward greater sustainability. The 150-page report disaggregates those costs to the national level, with data on 154 countries.
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Let’s go through some key findings:
- The biggest costs — more than 70% — are driven by unhealthy diets that are high in ultraprocessed foods, leading to obesity and other health problems and causing labor productivity losses. And it’s high- and upper-middle-income countries that are paying the biggest price there.
- Not surprisingly, low-income countries are disproportionately affected by the hidden costs to their agri-food systems, as they encompass more than a quarter of their GDP. That’s compared with 12% for middle-income countries and 8% for high-income ones.
- One-fifth of the total costs are environmental, created by nitrogen emissions (with over 50%), greenhouse gases, land-use change costs, and water use.
- The report also highlights some true cost accounting success stories. For example, in Thailand, policymakers considered it to transition to organic rice farming, gaining up to $4 billion in potential health savings because less burning of fields and fewer pesticides meant better air quality and fewer respiratory illnesses. And in India, policymakers used true cost accounting to support a statewide transformation to agroecological farming in Andhra Pradesh, leading to better crop diversity and yields, better health outcomes due to safer farming methods, and a nearly 50% boost in net incomes for farmers.
So why all the noise about true cost accounting? The massive undertaking shows the U.N. recognizes that the method is “vital to food systems policymaking,” according to Alexander Müller, founder of the TMG Think Tank for Sustainability, and Jenn Yates, director of the True Cost Accounting Accelerator.
“By failing to fully incorporate potential costs and benefits in their decision-making, policymakers miss out on the opportunity to design interventions that solve multiple big challenges at once, maximizing benefits for people and nature,” they write in an opinion piece for Devex.
“This must change.” they add, writing further, “We need to go beyond conventional success metrics like crop yields, and understand the value of the whole system such as the health outcomes, or a food system’s impact on water use and biodiversity.”
Opinion: Scaling true cost accounting can transform our food systems
As for what’s next: FAO says there’s a lot more where this analysis comes from — so much, in fact, that it will dedicate next year’s State of Food and Agriculture report to true cost accounting, too. The 2024 version will provide in-depth assessments by country so that they have the information they need to change policies and investments around agri-food systems for the better.
Background reading: Can true cost accounting lead to sustainable food systems?
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What you need to know about working for the United Nations
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“Our food systems are a critical lever to deliver the Paris Agreement and build a sustainable, equitable and resilient future that enables people and nature to prosper.”
— Open letter signed by 80 organizations and individuals within the food systems community
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With the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 28, mere weeks away, a coalition of experts are urging parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change to acknowledge the critical role of food systems in achieving global climate goals. Most countries have yet to realize the potential of including food systems in their national action plans, they write in an open letter.
Among the signatories are the World Wildlife Fund, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, the Food Systems Partnership, and the Food and Land Use Coalition. They have two main asks for COP 28 negotiators:
- Integrate a holistic approach to food systems within the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Climate Action on Agriculture and Food Security, or SSJW — which is the official mechanism for coordinating food action in UNFCCC.
- Include food system actions into their national adaptation plans, nationally determined contributions, and long-term strategies before COP 30.
But there’s hope for those worried about weak links between the food systems and climate agendas. This year’s climate COP will include a “food day” for the first time ever, and there will also be a Food4Climate pavilion in Dubai’s ExpoCity, where the talks will take place.
Read: ‘We need accountability’ — On getting nutrition on the COP 28 agenda
What would you like to see accomplished at COP 28 in terms of food systems change? Let us know by emailing [email protected].
During COP 28, Devex will host its Climate + summit to uncover solutions that drive climate action. Register here to attend the event in person in Dubai or online from anywhere on Dec. 7.
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Climate +, a Devex summit at COP 28
Devex will again be on the ground in Dubai for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference to host a series of live media interviews, conversations, and collaborative workshops. This year’s summit, Climate +, will bring together visionaries, change-makers, and thought leaders from across the globe to explore the interconnected relationship between climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. With a focus on critical areas such as health, food, energy, and finance, Climate + aims to uncover solutions that drive climate action while promoting equitable, sustainable development.
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Yes, that's right — food systems account for 15% of all fossil fuels in the world each year, according to a new report from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. That figure includes food production, processing, transport, and storage — and it’s equivalent to total emissions from the EU and Russia combined.
The report argues that food systems — which account for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions — are key to climate change negotiations. “With business-as-usual food production and processing driving the demand for energy-intensive and ultra-processed foods, fossil fuel use will increase unless we drastically transform food systems to break the link between food and fossil fuels,” the report says.
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World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain calls for food aid to enter Gaza and protection of humanitarian workers delivering that aid. [Bloomberg]
Members of the U.S. Congress are calling for an extension of the farm bill. [Politico]
In Nigeria, advocates with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are calling for urgent action to save the country from the brink of famine. [VOA]
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Thank you for reading this week’s Devex Dish, edited by Anna Gawel, copy edited by Sheri-kae McLeod and Florence Williams, and produced by Yula Mediavillo. Have a news tip? Email [email protected].
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