State of Food and Agriculture Report, 2022

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently published the State of Food and Agriculture report for 2022.
• Every year, the flagship report is created.
• In order to help policymakers maximize the advantages and avoid the hazards, the research examined how automation in our agri-food systems can help us reach Sustainable Development Goals.

Agriculture automation – What is it?

• Food production can be made more effectively and sustainably by using agricultural automation, which can range from tractors to artificial intelligence.
• But if technology continues to be out of reach for small-scale producers and other marginalized groups, it could further exacerbate existing disparities.

What are the Report's Highlights?

27 case studies from various technologies from around the world were examined for the paper.

• Of the 27 service providers, just 10 are successful and financially stable.
• Statistics on the number of tractors per 1,000 hectares of arable land indicate that regional progress toward mechanisation is uneven.
• By the 1960s, high-income nations in North America, Europe, and Oceania were heavily mechanized. However, low- and middle-income regions tended to be less mechanized.
• Importantly, there are significant differences in the adoption of automation between and within nations, with sub-Saharan Africa seeing the least amount of adoption.
• For example, in 2005, Japan had more than 400 tractors per 1,000 hectares of arable land, whereas Ghana had only 0.4.
• Productivity is constrained in sub-Saharan Africa by the continued dominance of agriculture powered by human and animal labour.

What suggestions are made?

• Agrifood systems' sustainability and resilience should be guaranteed by an agricultural automation strategy.
• In such labor-rich environments, policymakers should refrain from subsidising automation.
• In areas with a surplus of rural labour and low salaries, agricultural automation can result in unemployment.
• The main goal of policymakers should be to foster the adoption of automation.
• The least skilled workers, who are more likely to lose their jobs during the transition, should be given social support.

About The Food and Agriculture Organization:

• The FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that directs global initiatives to end hunger.
• Every year on October 16th, people all over the world commemorate World Food Day. The anniversary of the FAO's inception in 1945 is commemorated on this day.
• It is one of the UN food aid organizations based in Rome (Italy). Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Initiatives Taken:

• Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).
• Monitors the Desert Locust situation throughout the world.
• The Codex Alimentarius Commission or CAC is the body responsible for all matters regarding the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
• The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the FAO in 2001.

Flagship Publications:

• The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA).
• The State of the World's Forests (SOFO).
• The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
• The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO).

Read Also: State of Agricultural Commodity Markets