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).
16% of the world's beef comes from Brazil, with a value of approximately USD 7.6 billion in 2019 (UNCCD, 2024).
0.6% of Argentina's GDP comes from shepherds, and this percentage increases to 1.4% when including subsistence values (UNCCD, 2024).
97 million hectares of rangeland expanded between 2001 and 2013, surpassing the expansion of cropland (44 million hectares) (UNCCD, 2024).
25% of the world's beef supply and 10% of the world's milk supply come from South America (UNCCD, 2024).
43 million cattle and 14 million sheep in intensive systems depend on pasture for their feed (UNCCD, 2024).
10% of the world's meat production comes from pastoralism, which is practiced in more than 100 countries and supports 200 million households (UNCCD, 2024).
16% of world food production and 70% of food for domestic herbivores comes from grasslands, mainly in Africa and South America (UNCCD, 2024).
0.65 or less is the aridity index of many drylands where grasslands are located, characterized by water scarcity (UNCCD, 2024).
50% of the Earth's land surface is covered by grasslands, which consist of grasses, herbaceous plants and shrubs, and are used as grazing by livestock and wildlife (UNCCD, 2024).