Baku (Turkey News Desk)Mukhtar Babayev said that agriculture is not only an economic activity but also a highly important and strategic sector for food security and economic stability.
Speaking at the 5th Agrobusiness Development Forum, he said that in recent years, climate change and extreme weather events have increased significantly worldwide, and are now occurring with greater intensity and scale.
According to him, the number of climate-related disasters globally has increased nearly fivefold over the past 50 years, while floods have become one of the most destructive natural disasters.
He said that more than 4,700 flood incidents have been reported in 168 countries over recent decades, affecting over 3.2 billion people and causing total economic losses of up to 1.3 trillion dollars.
Furthermore, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, natural disasters have caused more than 3 trillion dollars in losses to the agricultural sector over the past 30 years, averaging over 100 billion dollars annually.
He warned that more than 2 billion hectares of land worldwide are already degraded, while millions of hectares of farmland lose productivity every year.
He added that agriculture is not only affected by climate change but also contributes nearly one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, further complicating the situation.
