FAO – Enviroment Sustainability in Agro, 2023

The FAO's report on environment sustainability in agriculture highlights the challenges faced by agrifood systems in providing sufficient safe and affordable food to a growing urban population. These challenges were already present before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as food insecurity was on the rise due to factors such as global economic slowdown, climate change, and conflicts. The report emphasizes the long-term impact of a growing population, economic growth, and structural transformation on food demand. Rising incomes and urbanization rates lead to increased demand for high-value foods, resulting in a shift away from staple foods towards fruits, vegetables, animal products, and processed foods. However, meeting this growing demand through more intensive agricultural systems or extensive land use change can further increase the environmental pressure. Agriculture is a contributor to climate change and suffers from its adverse effects. It also occupies a significant amount of land, uses large amounts of freshwater, and contributes to water and air pollution in many regions. To address these challenges, the report calls for efforts to enhance the synergies and limit the trade-offs between productivity and environmental objectives. Countries need to incorporate environmental sustainability into farming practices while ensuring profitability and creating decent jobs. The report provides an overview of the environmental impacts of agriculture, discusses how agricultural policies affect the environment, and identifies policy responses to promote agricultural productivity while reducing the sector's environmental footprint.