Policy seminar: Expanding policy research to strengthen Eurasia’s food systems

BY FRANCESCA EDRALIN

Along with other regions of the world, Eurasia has been hit hard by COVID-19, creating a number of significant food security challenges, including external shocks caused by unstable commodity markets and disruptions of trade and remittances, in addition to ongoing climate change impacts. A Dec. 2 virtual policy seminar, jointly organized by the Eurasian Center for Food Security (ECFS) at Lomonosov Moscow State University, the World Bank, and IFPRI, explored the pandemic’s impact on agriculture and food security in the region and broader lessons for strengthening Eurasia’s food systems.

The World Bank’s Country Director for the Russian Federation, Europe and Central Asia Renaud Seligman, the bank’s Director for Sustainable Development in Europe and Central Asia Steven Schonberger, ECFS Director Sergey Shoba, and IFPRI Director General Johan Swinnen gave opening remarks stressing the importance of past and future research collaboration and strengthening ties between ECFS, IFPRI, and universities and research centers in the region.