Heads of OECD and FAO launch 2016 Agricultural Outlook in Rome
The OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria and the FAO's Director General José Graziano da Silva launched the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025 in Rome.
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025
The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025 was launched on 4 July 2016. The publication includes price projections for cereals, oilseeds, sugar, cotton, meat and dairy products as well as biofuels. It also looks at the challenge of climate change and the strategic priorities for sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly-urbanizing population.
Use our Compare Your Country Tool to Visualise Outlook Data
Data from the Outlook is available online and you can use the data visualisation tool to compare production and consumption data across all countries covered in the publication.
Summary and key findings from the 2016-2025 edition
- Efficiency gains in production enable production growth at lower real prices
- Increases in food demand limited by slowing population growth and a gradual saturation of consumption in emerging economies
- Global undernourishment to decline further, but higher consumption of sugar and fats
- Productivity growth driven mainly by yield improvements
- Global exports to remain highly concentrated and resource poor regions increase food imports
- Projections represent fundamental market trends, the underlying assumptions are subject to uncertainties
Prices for the main crops, livestock and fish products all fell in 2015, signalling that an era of high prices is likely over for all sub-sectors. Meat prices fell from record highs in 2014, dairy product prices continued declines that started in 2013 and 2014, while crop prices fell further from their peaks in 2012. The main factors behind lower prices have been several years of robust supply growth, weakening demand growth due to the overall economic slowdown, lower oil prices and further accumulation of already abundant stocks.
Special Feature: Sub-Saharan Africa
- In Sub-Saharan African agriculture continues to play an important role in development
- Agricultural growth increasingly driven by productivity improvements
- Increasing imports for many basic food commodities
- Cash crops offer alternative sources of income
- Stable policies combined with investments could improve the future of agriculture in the region
The Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region accounts for more than 950 million people, approximately 13% of the global population. Despite ongoing transformation of the region’s economies, agriculture remains a crucial sector providing livelihoods for millions of people. Regional differences in the structure and development stage of agriculture reflect the vast agro-ecological, economic, political and cultural differences across the continent. Undernourishment has been a long-standing challenge, with uneven progress toward food security across the region.