The economics of food sufficiency

7 July 2022 FAO Senior Economist George Rapsomanikis was invited to talk about the challenges of food sufficiency during a hearing organized by the European Economic and Social Committee.

Presenting the main findings of FAO’s recently published biannual report The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022 (SOCO), the hearing touched upon the role of food sufficiency and the relevance of efficient markets in ensuring an effective global food trade.

As the main author of the SOCO 2022 Report, Rapsomanikis introduced the ‘economics of food sufficiency’, clarifying the factors that influence a country’s food self-sufficiency. FAO defines food sufficiency as the extent to which a country can satisfy its food needs from its own domestic production, rather than by buying or importing. 

According to FAO’s most recent findings, global food production needs to increase by 50% by 2050 to meet the demand of a growing world population, especially in developing countries. 

“It is important to improve productivity in agriculture in a way so that it also creates incomes for small farmers and is climate-smart,” explained Rapsomanikis. “But it is also crucial to preserve the function of the global market. Agriculture has the capacity to reduce poverty better than any other sector – especially in developing countries. The agricultural sector is an extremely powerful tool for development” 

You can find the full report on The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022 here.