Food, almost half of the world’s population lives in families linked to agri-food systems

ROME – Some 1.23 billion people were employed in the world’s agri-food systems in 2019 and more than three times that figure, or nearly half of the world’s population, live in households connected to agri-food systems, according to new research from theFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Of these 1.23 billion people, 857 million worked in primary agricultural production, while 375 million worked in the off-farm segments of agri-food systems, i.e. the set of activities connected by commercial relationships and which contribute to the creation of the value of the food product as it arrives on the consumer’s table.

The direct relationship with food crises. Crises of global dimensions with respect to the ability to access a regular and healthy diet have demonstrated the importance of agri-food value chains on a global scale. Faced with the increase in food insecurity, especially in the poorest countries of the world, identifying where the fragility of these chains is found has become essential to promote sustainable and resilient models capable of withstanding economic, social, environmental and political shocks . Meanwhile, global hunger has once again begun to increase. In 2021, food insecurity affected 278 million people on the African continent, according to FAO. The Sahel and West African region has seen the number of people living in food insecurity rise from 10.7 million in 2019 to 40.7 million in 2022. And forecasts are far from reassuring: nearly 670 million people will still go hungry in 2030, 78 million more than in a non-pandemic scenario.

vulnerable populations. Agriculture and the entire agri-food chain, therefore, has remained fundamental for Africa’s sustainable social and economic growth and for poverty reduction strategies. On the continent, agri-food value chains are one of the main generators of employment and income, and are particularly important for vulnerable populations, as they have direct implications for food and nutrition security. Large-scale crises can weaken agri-food value chains, which are already inefficient structural features, with negative effects on production and a consequent increase in food insecurity and poverty, particularly in rural areas.

The look at the whole process of food production. The new figures, the first systematic and documented global estimate of its kind, are derived from a range of sources and incorporate the widespread use of part-time or seasonal work in the sector. The figures also refer to agri-food systems rather than agricultural sectors, reflecting the growing importance of off-farm activities in feeding the world’s population, now 8 billion and growing. “Political and practical agendas at national and global levels need and are addressing the challenges facing agri-food systems in an integrated way, and to keep pace, data needs to move beyond siled notions such as agricultural employment and include the entire process from food production through processing and transportation to the consumer – everything that goes into what we eat,” said Ben Davis, Director of FAO’s Division for Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality and lead author of the relationship. “Making sure agri-food systems are sustainable requires taking into account nutrition, health and climate change,” he added.

Main results
– The largest number of people employed in agri-food systems, 793 million, is in Asia, followed by nearly 290 million in Africa.

– Most of the economically active population in low-income countries, particularly in Africa, had at least one job or business in agri-food systems.

– Including relevant commercial and transportation activities, 62% of employment in Africa is in agribusiness systems, compared to 40% in Asia and 23% in the Americas.

– The share of employment of the agri-food system in total employment that is not directly in agricultural sectors varies from 8% in Europe to 14% in Africa.

– In most of the countries for which data are available, young people, defined as people aged 15-35, make up around half of all workers in the agri-food system and their share is usually highest in processing and in food services.

– Of the 3.83 billion people who depend on agri-food systems for their livelihoods, 2.36 billion live in Asia and 940 million in Africa.

– The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 6.8% reduction in the number of employees in the agri-food systems. The impact of COVID-19 was highest in Latin America, where employment fell by 18.8%.

– On 13 April, FAO is to publish a groundbreaking report on the status of women in agri-food systems, in which data on employment in agri-food systems in the working document is further disaggregated by gender.

Fundamental to measure employment. A comprehensive measure of employment in agri-food systems offers valuable insights for decision makers, and FAO hopes to garner support to turn the latest research into an ongoing set of statistical data. Agri-food systems include the primary agricultural production of food and non-food products, the production of food of non-agricultural origin, the food supply chain from producer to consumer and to the final consumer of food. Globally, these systems produce around 11 billion tonnes of food each year and form the backbone of many economies. Robust data of this kind is essential to help ensure that agri-food system transformation delivers new jobs, particularly in low-income countries with large young populations, and does so fairly.

The increase in income causes the number of agricultural workers to decrease. As countries develop, the share of employment in agri-food systems decreases. This is mainly due to a reduction in employment in the agricultural sector. As countries move from lower to higher income, the share of the agri-food systems labor force directly engaged in agriculture generally decreases, while that engaged in off-farm employment in food processing, services , in commerce and transport it grows. FAO also found that counting people engaged in side labor or household farming activities – such as a full-time school teacher who grows produce for sale on their own land – in agri-food systems adds about 24% on average to the number of those whose livelihoods depend on such systems.