Aussies defend ‘white farmer visas’

– Natural disasters such as drought and floods cost developing countries $96 billion in damage to crops and livestock between 2005 and 2015, highlighting the need to step up protection for poor farmers, the UN said.

Half the total damage – $48 billion (R573 billion) – occurred in Asia, according to a report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched at a Hanoi conference on Thursday.

“Asia is always, in terms of natural hazards, the most-hit area simply because so many tropical storms and heavy monsoon rains hit that region,” Stephan Baas, a risk advisor at FAO and one of the study’s authors, said.

Besides precipitation, Asian agriculture was also affected by earthquakes, tsunamis and extreme temperatures, the report said.

Drought caused $29 billion of the damage across all developing countries, the study showed, making it a major threat to food security and incomes.

In Africa, agricultural losses from natural disasters amounted to $26 billion over the decade, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, $22 billion. Drought was the costliest disaster for crops and livestock in those two regions.

Crop pests and animal diseases caused about $6 billion of the losses to African farmers.

Climate change is likely to worsen the threats and challenges from natural disasters, FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said in a statement.

Bass said: “The main purpose of the report is to give evidence to policymakers so they know what can be avoided.” –