The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ) has launched five new indicators and revised the data available on its FAOSTAT portal, enriching access to global data on employment in agri-food systems (AFS).The extension now provides, at the national, regional and global levels, information on 23 indicators ranging from employment in agri-food systems , employment status , divisions of agriculture and hours worked of people employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries and in rural areas by sex and age, where possible.
The key indicators refer to agricultural and non-agricultural employment in agri-food systems and break down the data by age group, gender and agricultural sectors , including forestry and logging, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as hunting and crop and animal production.
"The expansion of FAOSTAT responds to a critical need to improve the availability of employment data to inform the transformation of agri-food systems.
It provides a better picture of how many people work in agri-food systems around the world and highlights their key role in feeding the planet,” said José Rosero Moncayo, FAO Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Division.
FAOSTAT’s new offering provides actionable insights into the world’s largest labor sector, employing nearly 1.3 billion people, or 39.2 percent of the global workforce.
It also lays the foundation for more detailed monitoring of local trends in the future.
The global share of employment in agri-food systems (AFS) has declined significantly , from 52.2% in 2000 to 39.2% in 2021, indicating a major shift towards other sectors over the past two decades.
Africa leads the way with 64.5% of AFS employment , highlighting a strong dependence on agri-food systems.
Asia follows with 41.5%, reflecting both agricultural economies and increasing industrialization.
The Americas holds a 22.4% share of total employment, followed by Oceania at 18.7% and Europe at 14.7% , indicating more diversified economies with less reliance on AFS employment.
Asia had the highest number of people – 830 million people – working in agri-food systems, with China and India accounting for nearly 60% of that employment.
Africa follows with about 300 million people. The two continents together account for 88% of global employment in agri-food systems.
Globally , the agricultural sector accounts for 67.5% of employment in the agri-food system , although regional differences are substantial.
In the Americas, Europe, and Oceania , much of agri-food employment is concentrated in non-agricultural activities such as food processing, services, trade, transportation, and non-food agricultural production.
In contrast, Africa and Asia rely primarily on agriculture for agri-food jobs. Agricultural employment within agri-food systems ranges from 74.4% in Africa to just 34.8% in Europe.
Non-agricultural employment in agri-food systems (AFS) has remained stable at around 13% of total global employment over the past two decades , with Africa as the only region growing in this sector.
In 2021, non-agricultural AFS employment reached 16.5% in Africa, followed by the Americas at 12.8%, Asia at 12.4%, Oceania at 11.9% and Europe , which had the lowest share at 9.6%.
This employment evolution, explains FAO, highlights the need for targeted regional policies : on the one hand to support transitions towards non-agricultural sectors in emerging economies, on the other to enhance the entire agri-food system as an engine of inclusive and sustainable growth. (Source: https://www.fao.org/ )