FAO
UN food and agriculture agency helping restore regional screwworm control through sterile-insect technology.
Founded in 1945, the FAO links food security with animal health; its 3 June report priced livestock losses from drug resistance at $318 billion by 2040.
Last refreshed: 22 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How much will cheap livestock antibiotics cost the global food system by 2040?
Timeline for FAO
Led Libya's screwworm eradication campaign
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Mentioned in: PAHO flags 1,355 human screwworm casesCo-published the clade B risk assessment
Pandemics and Biosecurity: MERS clade B found in Nile Basin camelsPublished 3 June report costing AMR inaction at $318bn by 2040 in livestock production losses
Pandemics and Biosecurity: FAO costs drug-resistance inaction at $318bnMentioned in: WHO finds one in six infections drug-resistant
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
The Food and Agriculture Organization is the United Nations agency for food security, agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Founded in 1945 and headquartered in Rome, it has 195 member states and territories.
FAO collects agricultural data, sets technical standards and supports governments during food and animal-health emergencies. Its remit links crop and livestock production with nutrition, trade and rural livelihoods. That position also gives it a role in diseases that cross between animals and people.
On antimicrobial resistance, FAO works with the World Health Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health. The partnership reflects a basic fact: much global antimicrobial use occurs in livestock. FAO therefore frames resistance as both a health threat and a risk to food production. It also supports control of animal pests such as New World screwworm, including regional work with sterile-insect technology.
FAO prices resistance in livestock
On 3 June 2026, the Food and Agriculture Organization projected that global antimicrobial use in livestock would rise 30 per cent by 2040 against a 2019 baseline. Under a high-resistance scenario, it put cumulative livestock production losses at $318 billion, about six times the estimated cost of acting.
The report translated antimicrobial resistance into the terms used by agriculture and finance ministries. For FAO, the issue is not confined to human medicine: cheap antibiotics support intensive animal production, resistance follows their use, and the resulting losses threaten food supply and farm incomes.
What is FAO doing about New World screwworm in 2026?
How did FAO eradicate New World screwworm from Libya?
How does sterile insect technique stop screwworm?
Why did screwworm return after earlier eradication?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 22 October 2026. Editorial standards.