FAO predicts a decline in agricultural production over the next nine years

The document cited demographic trends as the reason. In precise figures, experts pegged annual growth at 1.1 percent. This is several times lower than in recent years, including the past ten years. Overall consumption, according to their calculations, will increase by 1.3 percent due to the increased share of edible agricultural products. This figure is also lower than before, but not by as much.

Analysts noted that the upward trend in production and consumption will persist despite a number of serious challenges, such as inflation , geopolitical tensions (for example, between Russia and Ukraine or in the Middle East), climate issues (global warming, El Niño, etc.), and significant price fluctuations for fertilizers, seeds, and other agricultural inputs. At the same time, they did not rule out the possibility that inflationary pressures will negatively impact not only food production but also global demand for it.

The report also addresses the issue of prices for key agricultural inputs, which have increased significantly over the past two years. Using fertilizer as an example, the authors calculated that every 10 percent increase in fertilizer prices leads to a two percent increase in food costs. They also emphasized that this situation impacts the poor the most, as they produce more than half of agricultural output.