Food production causes 70% of the loss of terrestrial biodiversity and 50% of the loss of freshwater biodiversity, as it depletes ecosystems and threatens species with extinction.

Over the past 50 years, the conversion of natural ecosystems for crop production or livestock pasture has been the main driver of habitat loss which, in turn, is the main driver of biodiversity loss in terrestrial environments including forests and peatlands., For example, 90% of global deforestation is caused by the conversion of forest ecosystems into agricultural land. The agricultural use of fires on deforested landscapes and tropical pastures is a key driver of the widespread forest fires in the Amazon rainforest, with climate change-induced droughts creating favorable conditions for the fires to spread deeper into the forest, as well as into the Cerrado biome. Through land conversion, food production directly reduces the diversity of marine and terrestrial habitats, threatens or destroys the breeding, feeding and/or nesting of birds, mammals, insects, fish, and microbial organisms.

Approximately 70% of global freshwater withdrawals are attributed to agriculture, ranging from 44% in high-income countries to 90% in low-income countries. This high demand for water in agriculture often leads to over-extraction of surface and underground water. As a result, agriculture is the main driver for wetlands conversion worldwide, with direct impacts on the species inhabiting these critical habitats and on the ecosystem services that wetlands deliver.

Fisheries, which have expanded geographically and into deeper waters, have caused over 30% of marine fish stocks to be overfished while nearly 60% are fished at maximum capacity. As fish are harvested at unsustainable rates amid other stressors, key species decline, triggering a cascade of effects throughout the food web. This imbalance can result in the overpopulation of certain prey species and the decline of others, ultimately jeopardizing the resilience and functionality of marine ecosystems.

Healthy marine ecosystems play a vital role in carbon sequestration, with over 1 million metric tons of anthropogenic carbon dioxide being dissolved in the ocean every hour. Overfishing disrupts these marine ecosystems, reducing their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This exacerbates climate change by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Furthermore, the unsustainable extraction of fish and other marine organisms alters nutrient cycles and can contribute to ocean acidification which, in turn, affects shell-forming species, with disruptive effects on marine food webs.

Chemical pollution from food production is responsible for approximately 32% of soil acidification, 78% of eutrophication, and one fifth of air pollution worldwide. In Europe, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the eastern United States, ammonia emissions from agriculture are the largest relative contributor to air pollution by fine particulate matter and the leading cause of mortality attributable to air pollution.

Additionally, FAO estimates that agriculture is the biggest source of soil pollution in East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Soil contaminants can reduce the number of organisms by causing toxicity or by entering the food chain and causing disease and mortality in terrestrial and aquatic organisms.

In Europe, 80% of soils on agricultural land contain pesticide residues, and approximately 65-75% exceed critical nitrogen thresholds, above which agricultural runoff is expected to cause surface water eutrophication. The eutrophication of water bodies leads to increased frequency and severity of algal blooms, mass fish death, and so-called ‘dead zones’ in coastal ecosystems.

Insecticides play a critical role in exacerbating these environmental issues by directly impacting both vertebrate and invertebrate populations. Invertebrates, particularly pollinators like bees and butterflies, are highly susceptible to insecticide exposure, which can disrupt their reproductive cycles, reduce their populations, and ultimately affect ecosystem services such as pollination and soil health. Vertebrates, including amphibians, birds, and small mammals and apes, can suffer from acute poisoning, reduced fertility, or immune system suppression when exposed to insecticides through contaminated food, water, or habitat. The bioaccumulation of these chemicals through the food chain further amplifies their effects, leading to long-term ecosystem imbalances, biodiversity loss, and a reduction in the overall resilience of the natural ecosystem.

Malnutrition continues to be an urgent issue for many poor and marginalized communities worldwide. In recent years, the problem has been magnified by pandemics, armed conflicts, and extreme weather events. For example, between 713 and 757 million people may have faced hunger in 2023, which is one out of 11 people in the world, and one out of every five in Africa. More than 2.8 billion people were not able to afford a healthy diet in 2022. 

Simultaneously, around 2.2 billion adults, or 42% of the global adult population, were overweight or obese as of 2020—figures that could rise to 3.3 billion and 54%, respectively, by 2035. The rising rates of obesity and diet-related diseases—including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and some cancers—are caused by increasing global consumption of highly processed food products as well as food products that are high in refined carbohydrates, saturated fat, and sodium. 

Dietary quality and food security are also affected by the reliance on a limited number of crops. Over the past century, 90% of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers’ fields, and half of the breeds of many domesticated animals have been lost. As a result, 75% of all food production and consumption is concentrated on just 12 plant species and five animal species.  The prevalence of minimum dietary diversity for women is consistently low and varies widely (from 36% to 89%) across 37 low- and middle-income countries. This means that food groups like fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts and seeds that are rich in micronutrients and vitamins or better adapted to local environmental conditions are produced and consumed in insufficient quantities – altering consumption patterns of communities that traditionally consumed food using crops species that are more culturally compatible and environmentally suitable to their locale.  

Meanwhile, the 13% of food that is lost along the supply chain and 19% of food that is wasted in household, food service, and retail sectors, place undue stress on the environment while remaining a missed opportunity to feed hundreds of millions affected by hunger. 28% of the world’s agricultural land area and approximately one-fourth of the agriculture industry’s water and fertilizer use is used to produce food that will never be eaten.^, Furthermore, food discarded into landfills is a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a warming impact nearly 80 times greater than carbon dioxide.^, Wasted food represents a missed opportunity to promote food security. Consider that at the household level alone, over one billion meals worth of edible food are thrown away each day, which is enough to give each of the 783 million people affected by hunger around the world in 2022 at least one additional daily meal.

The supply of 58% of seeds, 78% of agrochemicals, 50% of agricultural machinery, and 72% of animal pharmaceuticals is dominated by six companies each. Only four firms control 70-90% of global grain trade. This dominance reinforces existing power imbalances and promotes farming and food production models that are both socially and environmentally unsustainable, leading to harmful impacts on society and the environment. Concentration in the agri-food industry has made farmers ever more reliant on a handful of suppliers and buyers. This concentration squeezes farmers’ incomes and erodes their ability to choose what to grow, how to grow it, and for whom. 

Agribusiness corporations exert significant influence on global food governance in multiple ways, including public-private partnerships, lobbying, research sponsorship, political donations, and participation in negotiations of trade and investment agreements. This influence can undermine principles of inclusivity, fairness, and transparency in governance processes, lead to weak and ineffective outcomes of governance initiatives, and result in a lack of corporate accountability when it comes to the negative impacts of industrialized food production on people and the planet.

By driving biodiversity loss and accelerating climate change, unsustainable food systems negatively impact peoples’ livelihoods. For example, ecosystem conversion can deteriorate water quality and loss of mangroves could expose hundreds of millions of people to floods and cyclones made worse by climate change. People with low adaptive capacity and those whose livelihoods rely on ecosystems are disproportionately affected by biodiversity loss and climate change. For instance, Indigenous people and local communities including farmers that depend on ecosystem services for food, fiber, and medicines could lose access to these due to biodiversity loss. High biodiversity and functioning ecosystems, on the other hand, increase peoples’ resilience to climate change and guarantee that people can sustainably resort to ecosystems services for their livelihoods.

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