According to the FAO State of the Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2023 report, the hidden costs of agrifood systems—encompassing the external costs of food production on natural resources, the costs of distributional failures within agrifood systems, and productivity losses due to current dietary patterns—would reduce the world average PPP GDP by 10% in 2020 if included in national accounts.
In six countries—Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, and the UK—experts from the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium provide recommendations to improve the assessment of hidden costs in each country and test future scenarios to identify the most desirable and urgent actions for reducing these costs by 2030 and 2050. Our findings show significant potential for reducing accumulated hidden costs by 2050, from 15% in the UK to 140% in Australia (in 2020 PPP), compared to the current trends scenario.
Synthesis
Australia
Brazil
Colombia
Ethiopia
India
UK