Global food production has been heavily impacted by disasters over the past three decades, with a new UN report estimating $3.26 trillion in agricultural losses worldwide since 1991.
The assessment, released earlier this month by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, shows disasters have cost global agriculture an average of $99 billion per year — roughly 4% of global agricultural GDP — underscoring the growing threat to food security.
The report offers the most extensive global analysis to date of how droughts, floods, pests, marine heatwaves and other shocks have disrupted food supplies, farm livelihoods, and nutrition. It also highlights a significant shift underway as digital technologies help farmers and governments anticipate risks rather than merely respond to crises.
From 1991 to 2023, disasters destroyed an estimated 4.6 billion tonnes of cereals, 2.8 billion tonnes of fruits and vegetables, and 900 million tonnes of meat and dairy. The losses reflect a combination of increasingly extreme weather, environmental degradation and structural vulnerabilities across global agriculture.
Asia experienced the greatest share of global losses — 47% or $1.53 trillion — driven by its vast agricultural base and high exposure to storms, floods and drought. The Americas accounted for 22% of global losses, totaling $713 billion, largely linked to recurrent droughts, hurricanes and extreme heat that disrupt major commodity crop systems.
Africa, while seeing lower total losses at $611 billion, suffered the most severe relative impacts. Disasters erased 7.4% of the continent’s agricultural GDP—the highest proportional loss of any region—posing significant threats to food security and rural livelihoods in economies heavily dependent on farming.
The report concludes that expanding digital innovation, strengthening early warning systems, and building more resilient agrifood systems are essential to reducing future losses as climate and disaster risks intensify.
