Nearly a quarter of the damage resulting from natural disasters in the global South is suffered by agriculture, according to a new report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

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Released at a global conference in Japan, the report shows that 22 percent of the impacts of drought, floods storms or tsunamis - all of which are projected to increase in frequency and severity as a result of anthropogenic climate change - are felt by agriculture operations and small-scale farmers. However, if anything, the true impact on agriculture is likely to be higher than this.

Attempting to arrive at a truer figure for the damages, FAO experts estimated that losses of crops and livestock as a result of natural disasters amounted to a cost of $70bn (£47bn) over the ten year period studied (2003-2013).

The FAO report’s publication this week coincided with the founding of a new facility aimed at helping countries prepare for and weather natural disasters. The report was informed by analysing the needs of people in areas where natural disasters had taken place across 48 countries.

In particular, damage and losses were shown to affect poor people who don’t have the insurance or financial resources needed to replace their losses. The FAO authors also found that an insufficient proportion of humanitarian aid spending is going towards agriculture.

Commenting, FAO director José Graziano da Silva said, "Agriculture and all that it encompasses is not only critical for our food supply, it also remains a main source of livelihoods across the planet. While it is a sector at risk, agriculture also can be the foundation upon which we build societies that are more resilient and better equipped to deal with disasters.”

"This is why building resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises is one of FAO's top priorities,” Graziano da Silva added, discussing the FAO’s new project. He continued, ”With this new effort, we are aiming to limit peoples' exposure to risks, avoid or reduce impacts where possible, and enhance preparedness to respond quickly when disasters occur.”

Worldwide, the livelihoods of 2.5 billion people depend on agriculture. These small-scale farmers, herders, fishers and forest-dependent communities generate more than half of global agricultural production and are particularly at risk from disasters that destroy or damage harvests, equipment, supplies, livestock, seeds, crops and stored food.

Beyond the obvious consequences on peoples' food security, the economies of entire regions and nations can be altered when disasters hit agriculture. The sector accounts for as much as 30 percent of national GDP in countries like Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, the Niger, among others. Impacts to agriculture in these areas can also spill over into other sectors, and affect wider communities.