Some of agrifood systems workersSome of agrifood systems workers - Picture from World Food Forum

 Food & Climate

The global share of employment in agrifood systems (AFS), which close to 1.3 billion, has decreased 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 with 64.5% of employment in AFS, highlighting a strong reliance on agrifood systems. Asia follows with 41.5%, reflecting both agrarian economies alongside growing industrialization. The Americas hold a 22.4% share in total employment, followed by Oceania at 18.7%, and Europe at 14.7%,  indicating more diversified economies with a lower reliance on AFS employment, according new report, seen by “Food & Climate” platform.

Asia recorded the highest number of people – 830 million people – working in agrifood systems, with China and India accounting for nearly 60% of such employment. Africa followed with an estimated 300 million people. The two continents combined account for 88% of global employment in agrifood systems.

While the Americas had slightly more than 100 million people employed, while Europe and Oceania had significantly lower numbers, with 50 million and around 4 million people employed in the sector, respectively, according new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Agricultural sector and agrifood system

Globally, the agricultural sector makes up 67.6% of agrifood system employment, though regional differences are substantial.

In the Americas, Europe, and Oceania, much of agrifood employment centers on off-farm activities like food processing, services, trade, transportation, and non-food agricultural manufacturing.

By contrast, Africa and Asia primarily rely on farming for agrifood jobs. Agricultural employment within agrifood systems ranges from 74.4% in Africa to just 34.8% in Europe.

Non-agricultural employment in agrifood systems (AFS) has remained stable at around 13% of total global employment over the past two decades, with Africa as the only region experiencing growth in this sector.

Two African women are planting – Picture from thousanddays.org

 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%.

The global share of agricultural employment in total employment decreased from 39.8% in 2000 to 26.4% in 2021.

5 new indicators

FAO has launched 5 new indicators and overhauled the data available on its FAOSTAT portal, the global go-to resource for those interested in agrifood facts and rural livelihoods.

The expanded data domain now provides, at the country, regional and global levels, information on 23 indicators ranging from employment in agrifood systems, status in employment, divisions of agriculture and hours worked of the people employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing and in rural areas by sex and age whenever possible. Key indicators refer to agricultural and non-agricultural employment in agrifood systems and break down data by age groups, sex and sectors of agriculture including forestry and logging and fishing and aquaculture as well as hunting and crop and animal production.

“The expanded FAOSTAT responds to a critical need to improve the availability of employment data to inform the transformation of agrifood systems. It offers a better picture of how many people are working in agrifood systems around the world and highlights their key role in feeding the planet,” said José Rosero Moncayo, Chief Statistician and Director, FAO Statistics Division.

The data also highlight significant variations in the distribution of employment within the agrifood systems across regions.

 In Africa and Asia, a substantial majority (70–75 %) of this employment is within the agricultural sector, while in the Americas, Europe and Oceania, a higher proportion of employment

(55–65 %) is found in off-farm agrifood system activities.

With 343 million female workers compared to 549 million male workers, women accounted for 28.5 % of the 892 million people working in agriculture in 2022, representing a marginal decline from 2000 (38.7 %).

In 2022, the global share of employment in agriculture was 26.2%, yet this masks significant differences across regions.

Picture from Asia pathways

 Africa had the highest share (47.8%), followed by Asia 28.8%), the Americas (9%), Oceania (6.6%) and Europe (5.2 %). Notably, Africa was the only region where women were more likely to work in agriculture than men, with 49.9% of women employed compared to 46.2% of men. Conversely, the largest gender disparity was observed in the Americas, where 12.1% of men worked in agriculture compared to only 4.9% of women.