Context:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) released State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) Report 2023 recently.
News Summary:
- For the 1st time ever, FAO will dedicate two consecutive editions of SOFA to same theme.
- 2023 report presents national-level True Cost Accounting (TCA) assessments to uncover hidden impacts of agri-food systems while 2024 report will focus on in-depth targeted assessments to identify the ways to mitigate them.
- Key findings –
- Global quantified HCs of agrifood systems amounts to 10 trillion dollars or more.
- HCs arising from dietary patterns lead to diseases and lower labour productivity and are most prominent in high- and middle-income countries.
- Environmental HCs constitute over 20% of quantified HCs and are equivalent to almost one-third of agricultural value added.
- HCs, estimated at 27% of Low Income Countries’ GDP, are associated with poverty and undernourishment.
About FAO:
- HQ: Rome
- A specialized agency of United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
- India is member.
Terms and Definitions:
- TCA: Holistic and systemic approach to measuring and valuing environmental, social, health and economic costs and benefits generated by agrifood systems to facilitate improved decisions by policymakers, businesses, farmers, investors and consumers.
- Hidden Cost (HC): Any cost to individuals or society that is not reflected in market price of a product or service.
Source: FAO
Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: According to the United Nations’ World Water Development Report, 2022, India extracts more than a quarter of the world’s groundwater withdrawal each year.
Statement-II: India needs to extract more than a quarter of the world’s groundwater each year to satisfy the drinking water and sanitation needs of almost 18% of world’s population living in its territory.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2023 Prelims]
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-ll is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-ll is correct
Answer: (c)
Explanation:
About 89% of this groundwater is used in India for irrigation. Hence, Statement 2 is not correct.
