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State of Food and Agriculture Report, 2022

  • 07 Nov 2022
  • 4 min read

For prelims: State of Food and Agriculture Report, 2022, Food and Agriculture Organization, Sustainable Development Goals

For Mains: State of Food and Agriculture Report, 2022, Government Policies & Interventions

Why in News?

Recently, the 2022 edition of the State of Food and Agriculture report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was released.

  • The flagship report is produced each year.
  • The report looked at how automation in our agrifood systems can contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals and offers recommendations to policy makers on how to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks.

What is Agriculture Automation?

  • Agricultural automation, which includes anything from tractors to artificial intelligence, plays an important role in making food production more efficient and environmentally friendly.
  • But it can also deepen inequalities if it remains inaccessible to small-scale producers and other marginalised groups.

What are the Highlights of the Report?

  • The report looked at 27 case studies from all over the world, representing different technologies.
    • Only 10 of the 27 service providers are profitable and financially sustainable.
  • There is an unequal progress toward mechanization among regions, according to available statistics on the number of tractors per 1,000 hectares of arable land.
  • High-income countries in North America, Europe and Oceania were highly mechanised by the 1960s. But regions dominated by low-and middle-income countries were less mechanised.
  • Crucially, there are wide disparities in the spread of automation between and within countries, with adoption being particularly limited in sub-Saharan Africa.
    • For instance, Japan had more than 400 tractors per 1,000 hectares of arable land, compared with just 0.4 in Ghana in 2005.
    • Agriculture reliant on human and animal power continues to dominate in sub-Saharan Africa, limiting productivity.

What are the Recommendations?

  • An agricultural automation policy should ensure that agrifood systems are sustainable and resilient.
  • Policymakers should avoid subsidising automation in such labour-abundant contexts.
    • Agricultural automation can lead to unemployment in places where rural labour is abundant and wages are low.
  • Policymakers should focus on creating an enabling environment for adopting automation.
  • Social protection should be provided to the least skilled workers, who are more likely to lose their jobs during the transition.

What is the Food and Agriculture Organization?

Source: DTE

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