Browsing by Author "Thompson, Tommy"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    2022 Global Agricultural Productivity Report: Troublesome Trends And System Shocks
    Steensland, Ann (Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Global Programs, 2022)
    Global agricultural systems are being rocked by COVID-19, climate change, extreme weather events, and conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere, driving up prices for food and agricultural inputs. The agricultural systems of high- and upper-middle-income countries are withstanding the shocks relatively well. However, food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty rates have risen sharply, especially in low-income countries since 2020. In 2022, 40 million people faced emergency or catastrophic levels of food insecurity, twice as high as in 2020 and six times more than in 2016 (Food Security Information Network, 2022). The troubling trends in agricultural productivity growth are mainly unnoticed; updated data reveals that the world’s shock-sensitive systems rest on increasingly fragile foundations. Reversing the downward trajectory of global agricultural productivity growth demands urgent action from policymakers, leaders, donors, scientists, farmers, and others in the agri-food system.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Filling the GAPs: Expert Essays
    Thompson, Tommy; Grove, Ben; Archibald, Thomas G.; Agnew, Jessica L.; Steensland, Ann (2020-10-12)
    Agricultural productivity is best expressed as Total Factor Productivity-TFP. TFP is a measure of efficiency in agriculture — the efficiency with which agricultural inputs such as labor, fertilizers and seeds are converted into outputs of crops and livestock. According to the the Global Agricultural Productivity Index (GAP Index), global TFP must increase by 1.73 percent annually to meet global goals for adequate food, feed, fiber, and biofuel for 10 billion people by 2050. When we fall short of this target growth rate, as we have each year since the GAP Index was developed in 2010, this creates a “productivity gap”. The productivity gap is worsening in the world’s poorest countries, where TFP growth now averages only 0.58 percent annually. The productivity gap threatens food security and often forces farmers to cultivate marginal lands, which can also threaten biodiversity. How do we close the productivity gap and get back on track to achieving global food security? This year, the GAP Report editors invited scholars and experts to submit essays based upon their research about strategies for closing the productivity gap and increasing agricultural sustainability and resilience.