FAO: CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS
Data from post-disaster assessments conducted between 2007 and 2022 indicate that agricultural losses accounted for an average of 23% of the total impact of disasters across all sectors. Droughts alone caused over 65% of losses in the agriculture sector during this period, translating to an estimated $3.8 trillion worth of crops and livestock production lost in the last 30 years. “COP28 opened with a historic agreement on the operationalization of the loss and damage fund to help vulnerable countries deal with the impacts of climate breakdown,” said QU Dongyu, director-general of the FAO.
Moving forward, the report outlined a series of actions to mitigate the impact of loss and damage in agrifood systems and advocated for international collaboration and stronger partnerships. These include clarifying the meaning of loss and damage for national agrifood systems, enhancing climate risk assessment, investing in data collection and research, implementing adaptation measures, strengthening emergency response, and adopting a recovery approach based on ‘’building back better.”
(Link: WorldGrain)
REPORT: US CORN CROP RECEIVES HIGH MARKS
The 2023 US corn crop exceeded expectations both in terms of quantity and quality, according to the USGC 2023-24 Corn Harvest Quality Report. Warm and dry weather conditions in April and May allowed producers to plant ahead of schedule, allowed the crop to properly mature, and resulted in a bumper crop of 386.97 million tonnes. The report also showed that 88% of the samples met the grade factor requirements for US No. 1 grade and 96.7% met the grade factor requirements for US No. 2.
This year’s corn protein concentration registered at 8.8%, an improvement on the five-year average of 8.5%. The crop also showed lower average total damage and average moisture content when compared to the five-year average. The sampled corn contained the lowest percentage of broken corn and foreign material to date. The chemical composition of the crop remained in a healthy range, as 99.5% of the samples tested below the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action level for aflatoxins, and 100% of the samples tested below the 5.0 parts per million FDA advisory level for deoxynivalenol. Additionally, 98.3% tested below the FDA’s strictest guidance level of 5.0 parts per million for fumonisin.
(Link: WorldGrain)
