The Impact of Disasters and Crises on Agriculture and Food Security 2017

The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security 2015 showed that a staggering 22 percent of total damage and loss from natural disasters in developing countries was absorbed by the agriculture sector alone.

Two years on, FAO continues the effort to bridge persisting knowledge gaps and foster a better understanding of how the agriculture sector is affected by disasters. Through this 2017 report, FAO refreshes its 2015 conclusions and provides an update on the state of post-disaster agriculture in developing countries. It presents a first-ever, in-depth analysis of disaster impact on the subsectors of fisheries, aquaculture and forestry, which are not always covered by PDNAs. It also reveals an agriculture-specific methodology for evaluating damage and loss from disasters, thereby improving understanding of the wider implications for the economy and livelihoods.

Finally, the report also looks at all threats facing agriculture, including food chain crises and transboundary animal diseases – which are increasingly common and tend to have multipronged impacts on agriculture – as well as conflict and protracted crises, which are also on the rise. The latter is accomplished through an analysis of the impact on the agricultural system and rural livelihoods in the Syrian Arab Republic.