BY ROB VOS, JOSEPH GLAUBER, MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ AND DAVID LABORDE Food prices are skyrocketing around the world. In January, international prices for major food items climbed to a level near the heights of the global food price crises of 2007-08 and 2010-11, according to the FAO Food Price Index (Figure 1). The spike has raised concerns over the potential for
BY THOMAS REARDON, JOHAN SWINNEN AND ROB VOS In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and other measures restricting the movements of people and goods led to disruptions in food value chains, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—quickly followed by a number of surprisingly rapid adaptations and innovations to keep food supplies flowing. What is the situation now,
BY FRANCISCO CEBALLOS, SAMYUKTHA KANNAN AND BERBER KRAMER Lockdowns and other social distancing measures imposed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupted agricultural operations around the world, with particular force on smallholders and the poor. While many studies have documented these effects, few have directly quantified the losses. In a recent paper published in Agricultural Economics, we measure the sources
BY JOSEPH GLAUBER AND DAVID LABORDE The unfolding crisis in Ukraine has roiled commodity markets and threatens global food security. Ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors have already driven up food prices. Poor harvests in South America, strong global demand, and supply chain issues have reduced grain and oilseed inventories and driven prices to their highest levels
BY EMILY MYERS OPEN ACCESS | CC-BY-4.0 Since its launch in 2012, IFPRI’s Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) has been used by over 230 organizations across 58 countries to track progress in empowerment and gender equality. A Feb. 16 IFPRI event marked the WEAI’s 10th anniversary, focusing on lessons learned over the past decade and potential paths going forward. In particular, WEAI will
BY PAUL STASTNY With global stresses rising on food and agriculture from climate change, pandemic effects, conflicts, and other problems, what role can technology play in building more sustainable practices? This was one focus of a Feb. 2 panel discussion at ICTC Horizon—the two-day virtual summit of Canada’s Information and Communications Technology Council. A Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security panel, including Claudia
BY CARIN SMALLER The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world, leading to terrible suffering, and harsh impacts are already being felt beyond the conflict zone. The war has the potential to spark a global food security crisis, driven by two factors: Skyrocketing costs of food for consumers and of fertilizers for producers. This crisis demands an immediate global
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has imperiled global food security—creating suffering within Ukraine and displacing millions while disrupting agricultural production and trade from one of the world’s major exporting regions. The latter threatens to drive rising food prices still higher and create scarcity, especially for regions most dependent on exports from Russia and Ukraine—particularly the Middle East and North Africa. In