Biodiversity is the foundation of sustainable agricultural production and food security.
Agrifood sectors – crop and livestock production, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry – manage significant parts of the land, freshwater and oceans. They depend on biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides. But they also affect biodiversity in both positive and negative ways, impacting on livelihoods, food security and nutrition.
FAO’s projects, programmes and knowledge products help countries use, conserve and restore biodiversity in agrifood systems. This work is a key priority for FAO in its efforts to achieve its vision of a sustainable and food secure world for all.
Key facts and figures
3 out of 4 crops, representing 35 percent of global food production, depend, at least in part, on animal pollination
Soils are a major reservoir of biodiversity. There are more living organisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on Earth!
About 50 000 wild species globally are fished, gathered, logged or harvested for food, energy, medicine, materials or other purposes
Coral reefs provide vital habitat for 25 percent of the world’s known marine species
Livestock diversity includes a pool of around 38 species of domesticated birds and mammals, with more than 8 200 breeds currently used for food and agriculture
Publications
The Agri-NBSAPs Support Initiative: Supporting countries in their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans for the agrifood sectors
29/10/2024
The Agri-NBSAPs Support Initiative: Supporting countries in their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) for the agrifood sectors,...
Delivering on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework through agrifood systems
23/10/2024
Amid accelerating biodiversity loss and growing threats to ecosystems, sustainable agrifood systems can play a crucial role in reversing these trends...
Action Plan for the implementation 2024–2027
01/05/2024
The Action Plan reflects experiences gained from the implementation of the 2021–2023 Action Plan.
FAO Biodiversity Knowledge Hub
Featured videos
Agrifood systems solutions are biodiversity solutions
20/05/2025
Biodiversity is the foundation of our food, our nutrition, and our future. Biodiversity means ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity....
International Day for Biological Diversity 2025
20/05/2025
Statement by FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu on the occasion of the International Day for Biodiversity 2025.
Biodiversity for food security
20/05/2025
The world’s biodiversity is declining, and our ecosystems are under threat. However, sustainable agrifood systems can play a crucial role in reversing these trends while ensuring food security for a growing global population. Discover, through facts and figures for each agrifood sector, how agrifood systems and biodiversity are deeply intertwined.