Data or statistical facts on the situation and perspectives of agri-food systems and the impact of policies
USD 81 billion, one third of agricultural GDP, comes from livestock, which employs 3 million people (UNCCD, 2024).
264 million head of cattle and 17.4 million sheep are in Brazil (UNCCD, 2024).
1.4% of world production comes from Brazil (UNCCD, 2024).
3.7 million beef cattle and 1 million dairy cattle in Canada are distributed across approximately 40,000 and 9,000 farms, respectively (UNCCD, 2024).
5.2 million sheep in the United States, including 3.8 million breeding sheep, were distributed across more than 100,000 farms in 2020 (UNCCD, 2024).
1.2 billion poor people in developing countries depend on livestock for food security and income (UNCCD, 2024).
67 million square kilometres of grasslands, representing 45% of the world's land surface, are used for livestock production, with almost half in drylands (UNCCD, 2024).
13% of the net value of global agricultural and fishery production came from Latin America and the Caribbean between 2021 and 2023, with an even higher share of 18% in total exports (OECD and FAO, 2024).
50% of the world's soybean production comes from Brazil and Argentina combined, reflecting their comparative advantage in this sector (OECD and FAO, 2024).
10% of global fishery production comes from LAC, and a projected annual growth of 0.6% will allow this share to be maintained by 2033 (OECD and FAO, 2024).
