BY ANNA FABRY,KAAT VAN HOYWEGHEN, HENDRIK FEYAERTS,IDRISSA WADE AND MIET MAERTENS There has been much discussion on the resilience of different types of agrifood value chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. Good empirical evidence on this issue is limited because comparing value chains must account for variations in several factors (different commodities, different countries, etc.). The study by Anna Fabry and
BY LAWRENCE HADDAD AND CARIN SMALLER The number of people who go to bed hungry was rising steadily prior to the COVID-19 pandemic due to stresses related to climate, inequality and conflict, and now stands at 690 million. The pandemic has supercharged these trends. The latest UN estimates are sobering, with an additional 130 million projected to be suffering from hunger, even
BY EUGENIO DÍAZ-BONILLA Food systems must function well in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The operation of food systems affects incomes and employment; poverty and food security; diets, health, and nutrition; energy sources and uses; climate change, environmental sustainability, biodiversity, and ecosystems; and even aspects of peace and governance. Yet progress toward SDG2 and its key component,
BY GIRMA KASSIE AND SIMLA TOKGOZ In developing countries where agriculture comprises a significant part of the GDP, such as Nigeria and Ethiopia, agrifood value chains are very important, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers depend on their development and performance. Agricultural and trade policies have implications well beyond the farm, including for consumers, producers, traders, and processors. In this
BY SOKHNA SALL SECK The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on public health, economic growth, and livelihoods in Africa—though these have thus far been less severe compared to other regions. A May 10 virtual Africa discussion of IFPRI’s Global Food Policy report explored these effects. IFPRI researchers, along with and experts from government and regional partners, presented the report’s key findings and proposed
BY TODD BENSON Most of Malawi’s 4 million households still rely primarily on rainfed crop production with limited use of agricultural inputs for their food needs. But subsistence farming is failing to meet the dietary requirements of all Malawians: In recent years, several hundred thousand households annually have faced acute food insecurity. Insufficient harvests have resulted from either too little
BY SWATI MALHOTRA AND ROB VOS Food loss and waste is a substantial global problem, yet we still lack good estimates of how much is occurring. A 2011 FAO estimate indicates that as much as one third of all food is either lost at the farm, trade, or processing stages or wasted at the retail or consumer end; a 2019 FAO estimate put the
BY CLAUDIA RINGLER ANDJENNA WILF Water is vital for all life and integral to the functioning and productivity of Earth’s ecosystems. Water is also central to food systems—as a basic component of food and drink, and in production, processing, and preparation of food. Another use of water, WASH (water supply, sanitation, and hygiene), is essential for human health and nutrition.