How can the hidden costs and benefits of agrifood systems be effectively incorporated into decision-making for transformation?
Agrifood systems provide vital benefits to society, not least because they produce the food that nourishes us, provide jobs to over a billion people and shape cultural identities. Nevertheless, they also contribute to climate change, natural resource degradation, and biodiversity loss, while failing to ensure access to a healthy and affordable diet for everyone. The complexity and interdependencies of agrifood systems make it challenging for decision-makers to incorporate the costs and benefits they generate into decision making.
The 2023 edition of FAO’s flagship publication “The State of Food and Agriculture 2023” (SOFA 2023) has the theme “Revealing the true cost of food to transform agrifood systems”. By introducing the concept of the hidden costs and benefits of agrifood systems and providing a framework through which these can be assessed, this report aims to initiate a process that will better prepare decisions-makers for actions to steer agrifood systems towards environmental, social and economic sustainability. The report presents the results of national-level true cost accounting (TCA) assessments for 154 countries, and estimates that the global quantified hidden costs of agrifood systems amount to 10 trillion 2020 PPP dollars in 2020 or more (approximately 10 percent of global GDP). This underlines the urgent need to factor these costs into decision-making to promote agrifood systems transformation towards sustainability.
The SOFA 2023 report also affirms that, while the global estimates of the hidden costs quantified in the report are useful to raise awareness on the magnitude of the challenge, more research and evidence are needed for the design and the implementation of concrete actions and investments to address the hidden costs and enhance the benefits of agrifood systems. This should be done through targeted assessments based on TCA, which take into account the local contexts to refine the national estimates and consider the costs of different paths of transformation.
Given the relevance of this topic, for the first time since the launch of the SOFA publication in 1947, FAO is dedicating two consecutive issues to the same theme. The SOFA 2024 will showcase the flexibility of TCA in its application to different scopes, from an entire agrifood system down to a single product. Through a wide range of case studies, it will demonstrate the importance and challenges of incorporating the hidden costs into decision-making to evaluate different policy and management options to transform agrifood systems for the better. Its ultimate goal is to better prepare decisions-makers for actions to steer agrifood systems towards environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The SOFA team invites stakeholders to share illustrative examples (case studies) of existing or ongoing assessments of hidden costs and benefits of agrifood systems to ensure a wide range of coverage around the globe and across sectors. We also encourage contributions that elaborate on how such assessments have been used to inform decision-makers and other stakeholders in implementing transformative actions towards sustainable agrifood systems.
Contributions can include (but are not limited to) validation of the preliminary assessment of hidden costs presented in SOFA 2023, assessments of how the TCA approach can be tailored to the priorities of policymakers in different contexts and identification of areas for further analysis. Recognizing the complexity of covering all hidden cost dimensions, this call for submissions also targets contributions/case studies that look at two or more aspects of the hidden costs under environmental, social or health categories. These can include hidden cost sources such as water scarcity, greenhouse gas emissions, health consequences of unhealthy dietary patterns, or social consequences (including poverty and undernourishment) in a specific location of a country/region.
The final aim is to collect relevant inputs, key messages, and country level case studies to contribute to the writing process of SOFA 2024 (to be published in November 2024). The SOFA team will review and select pertinent case studies to feature in the report considering the relevance and contributions to diversity (geographic, sectoral and methodological) of each case.
The call is open until 29 January 2024.
How to take part in this call for submissions:
1. Using the submission template
To take part in this Call for submissions, please register to the FSN Forum, if you are not yet a member, or “sign in” to your account. Please download the submission template in any of six UN languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese) and upload the completed form in the box “Post your contribution” on this webpage. Please keep the length of submissions limited to 2,000 words and feel also free to attach relevant supporting materials.
2. Using an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based interviewer application
Instead of using a submission template, would you like to try using an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based interviewer application to provide your contribution? The questions in an AI-based interviewer application are similar to the submission template, but the flow would be managed in a more dynamic way as in qualitative in-person interviews, such as Key Informant Interviews (KII). Please note that the AI interface is only available in English, and you may stop and resume your qualitative AI survey experience at any time. If you would like to experience a real-world-like qualitative interview by providing your input through an AI based interviewer application, please click here.
For any technical support regarding downloading or uploading the submission form, or using the AI application please send an email to [email protected].
We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions, which will undoubtedly enhance the content of SOFA 2024.
Co-Facilitators:
Andrea Cattaneo, Senior Economist and Editor of The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA), Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA)
Aslihan Arslan, Economist, SOFA, ESA
Ahmad Sadiddin, Economist, SOFA, ESA
Theresa McMenomy, Economist, SOFA, ESA
Elisa Ranuzzi, Intern, SOFA, ESA
Please read the article on more FAO publications on the SOFA topic here.
- Read 70 contributions
Dear SOFA team,
We are happy to submit our contributions to the call. Please find our submissions attached.
On behalf of Impact Institute we would like to submit the following publications:
- External Costs of Animal Sourced Food in the EU
For any inquiries do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Simone van Klaveren
Dear SOFA team,
We're happy to submit our contribution 'External costs of animal sourced food in the EU - Study on the externalities attributed to current value chains of EU production and consumption of animal sourced food – and opportunities for change'.
This study monetises environmental, health and social costs of current animal production and consumption in the EU, with an innovative methodology for including animal welfare under social costs. It was carried out by Impact Institute in 2023.
Please find our contribution attached.
Kind regards,
Camilla Björkbom
Political Adviser Food Policy
Eurogroup for Animals
Dear SOFA team,
We are happy to submit our contributions to the call. Please find our submissions attached.
On behalf of True Price we would like to submit the following publications:
- The True Price of Climate Smart Agriculture
- Final report True Price of CSA Coffee
For any inquiries do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Claire van den Broek
Dear SOFA team,
We are happy to submit our contributions to the call. Please find our submissions attached.
On behalf of True Price we would like to submit the following publications:
- The external costs of banana production
- The external costs of banana production: A global study
For any inquiries do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Claire van den Broek
Dear SOFA team,
We are happy to submit our contributions to the call. Please find our submissions attached.
On behalf of True Price we would like to submit the following publication:
- True pricing at Ministry of I&W
For any inquiries do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards,
Claire van den Broek
Dear SOFA team,
Global Salmon Initiative (GSI), a leadership coalition representing over 40% of the global farmed salmon industry, would like to thank you for the opportunity to provide contributions about our ongoing work related to the hidden costs and benefits of agrifood systems. The farmed salmon sector supplies most of the world’s salmon, producing 70% of the global salmon harvest.[1] Given the continued growing demand for healthy protein, specifically aquaculture, Global Salmon Initiative was founded to move the industry towards more responsible, healthier and environmentally friendly farming methods. Our members are based in Chile, Canada, Australia/Tasmania, New Zealand, the Faroe Islands, Norway and Scotland. We appreciate that the 2023 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report presents True Cost Accounting as a framework to assess the hidden costs of our food systems. We strongly believe that understanding these hidden costs is crucial to identifying gaps and strategically targeting interventions and investments that can transform our food system to amplify the many benefits and opportunities. Our contribution highlights two frameworks in development designed to help decision-makers in the salmon farming sector standardize accounting and data collection and identify risks in the supply chain, ultimately addressing the challenge of capturing more hidden economic costs in the global food system.
Salmon farming is one of the most technically advanced forms of protein production, partly due to continuing innovations and farming efficiencies in the sector. From reducing dependence on marine ingredients, lowering our greenhouse gas emissions, and improving fish health and welfare, we are continually working to improve industry performance and our members annually report on our progress via our public Sustainability Report.[2] Employing aligned metrics across companies and regions to monitor and report data on crucial environmental and social parameters enables us to pinpoint strategic areas of focus for further improvement where knowledge transfer between companies and regions can accelerate progress.
Through collective efforts in GSI, the industry has improved the feed efficiency ratio through reduced its fish in to fish out ratio and increasing use of industry by-products and novel ingredients, reduced the use of antibiotics by 50% in 7 years, and supported the uptake of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification from 0-60% in 10 years. Measures like these will help aquaculture deliver on its promise, and GSI shares learnings so that others in and beyond the aquaculture sector can incorporate sustainable production efforts as well. More information on how GSI is using collaboration as a driver for industry transformation has been captured as part of a case study by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), “The Business Case for Pre-Competitive Collaboration: The Global Salmon Initiative.”[3]
Blue foods, including farmed salmon, are not only nutrient-rich, but they also have low GHG emissions relative to other animal proteins and present an opportunity to contribute to more sustainable, climate-resilient diets.[4] Aquatic foods are more efficient than terrestrial systems in providing protein; their impact on climate change and land use is in general much lower than terrestrial animal proteins and their production is not limited by suitable area available. Such benefits are highlighted by the research from the Blue Foods Assessment published in 2022.[5]
One vital way to improve production and consumption of nutrient-rich and sustainable protein is through aquaculture, the world’s fastest growing food sector.[6] The Ocean Panel documented the ocean’s ability to sustainably produce six times more food if better utilized and managed responsibly —and it could do so with a low environmental footprint.[7]
As noted within the 2023 SOFA report, GHG emissions are a large contributor to the environmental hidden costs of our food system and need to be reduced by 80% by 2050. And progress is still needed to further reduce emissions within the farmed salmon industry. We are collaborating with WWF to implement a standardized GHG Accounting Framework for the farmed salmon sector, with the eventual goal to expand it across the aquaculture sector. In partnership with IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, and Blonk Sustainability, we're testing a data collection tool aligned with this framework to make it easier for companies to collect aligned data points for their product footprint. Using standardized accounting and data collection, the tool will support greater opportunities to pinpoint mitigation opportunities, then employ GSI's pre-competitive model to quickly disseminate best practices and insights for faster emission reductions across the global salmon-farming sector. This framework will launch in mid-2024.
We also are working with WWF to develop an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Risk Assessment Tool to holistically assess feed ingredients across ESG indicators. This tool will make it easier to collect and share information between feed companies and suppliers, help identify hidden costs and risks, and will act as a starting point for continually increasing transparency across supply chains. It will be ready to launch in Q1 2024.
GSI members are committed to sharing their knowledge to help other aquaculture sectors evolve responsibly and support seafood’s important role in providing a growing population with access to safe and nutritious food. We believe that the adoption and use of the standardized GHG Accounting Framework and the ESG Risk Assessment Tool will provide valuable estimates of the costs and benefits of salmon production and will enable greater transparency and better decision-making.
Thank you for your leadership on this important dialogue, and for this excellent opportunity to provide comment. On behalf of GSI, I am very keen to assist in the development of the 2024 SOFA report and would be open to connect and support however required.
Sincerely,
Sophie Ryan, CEO, Global Salmon Initiative
Dear SOFA team,
We are happy to submit our contribution "Case study on hidden sustainability performance and hidden positive externalities in agriculture in Germany – pilot project in Lower Saxony".
Please find our submission attached. For further inquires as well as the full, unpublished version of the report, feel free to contact us.
Best regards
Ms. Cleopatra Ngulube
SOFA Hidden Costs
Though there is no recorded case of use as a TCA methodology, the market systems development (MSD) approach is a potentially useful tool that can be used to identify and understand the underlying causes of the hidden costs in agrifood systems. While the approach largely lends itself to the development of interventions to promote the inclusion of marginalised people in market systems; its focus on addressing the factors that influence outcomes of relationships and transactions between people, organisations, and institutions in the market system makes it a suitable approach to identifying the hidden costs. Furthermore, by placing the value chains at the centre of the framework of the approach, it can apply to a range of scopes which include the global, sectoral, and single-product scopes. The SOFA 2023 already had tenets of the approach when considering the markets, institutional and policy failures in the agrifood system but what may be required is to analyse the root causes of these failures which is what policy can try to address.
Dear FSN Moderator:
Please include the following contribution on the above topic.
"The hidden costs of agri-food systems transformation are related to making the foods safe and nutritious. In contrast to the cold chain that has been used for decades to minimize nutrient losses and improve food safety of high moisture content products, the dry chain was realized and proposed recently in 2018 for low moisture content seed/food/feed products. We have previously elaborated on the need to implement the dry chain at farms to make low moisture content seed/food systems sustainable and safe. In addition, we have gathered and produced research evidence including through a research project in collaboration with UNICEF-Nepal.
Here, we would like to share the link by USAID Agrilinks that has embraced and appreciated the dry chain to reduce food losses in the developing countries “Cold and Dry Chain to Reduce Food Loss and Waste”. Since dry food losses in the developing countries are associated with infection by toxic molds and insects, and nutrient decline in the storage, there is an urgent need to embrace and disseminate novel intervention soon after harvest to enable dry seed/food/feed systems to be safe and sustainable.
Peetambar Dahal and Krishna Belbase (Formerly with UNICEF, New York)"
Subject Matter Expert (Food Loss and Waste Cohort 5)
Seed Scientist (Retd.), University of California, Davis, USA
Former Coordinator of NRNA Americas to Agri Promotion Committee; Asta-Ja RDC-USA; Nepalese Agricultural Professional Association (NAPA)
Dear SOFA team,
We are happy to submit our contribution "Revealing data gaps in True Cost Accounting of European diets" to the FAO SOFA 2024 report. This contribution is part of the PLAN'EAT project, a Horizon Europe project funded by the European Commission and aiming at transforming food systems and food environments towards healthy and sustainable dietary behaviour.
Please find our submission attached. For further inquires as well as the full, unpublished version of the report, feel free to contact us.
Kind regards,
Siranush Ghukasyan
This activity is now closed. Please contact [email protected] for any further information.