News Overview

BY THOMAS REARDON, JOHAN SWINNEN, ROB VOS AND DAVID ZILBERMAN The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major shock to food supply chains, as lockdowns and restrictions affecting labor supply, input provisioning, logistics, and distribution channels severely compromised poor consumers’ access to food. Yet it could have been worse; food systems have also shown resilience and innovative capacity to adjust. The

BY QIYUN HUANG As the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded over the past year, global food systems faced significant challenges and opportunities. The 2021 China and Global Agricultural Policy Forum, co-organized by IFPRI and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on May 25 in Beijing, focused on the future of global food systems and China’s agrifood system in light

BY THOMAS REARDON, JOHAN SWINNEN AND ROB VOS The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed both the vulnerability and the resilience of food supply chains. Supply chains from farm to retail have been disrupted, primarily by government-imposed lockdowns and other restrictions affecting labor supply, input provisioning, logistics, wholesale, retailing, and food service. Supply chains have also shown a good deal of resilience

BY CHRISTINE CAMPEAU, LAWRENCE HADDAD, GUNHILD STORDALEN, SANDRINE DIXSON-DECLÈVE,SALEEMUL HUQ AND JOÃO CAMPARI Over the past eight months we—in our capacity as Action Track Chairs for the UN Food Systems Summit—have received well over 2,000 written submissions from around the world on how to transform food systems so that they can deliver access to safe and nutritious foods for all,

BY JOACHIM VON BRAUN Food systems at the global level and in many countries and regions are still failing to end hunger and malnutrition. With COVID-19 disproportionately impacting poor and food-insecure populations, levels of undernourishment continue to rise. Many food systems are based on production and distribution systems that are not sustainable. Poverty and inequalities between and within countries are

BY JESSICA WALLACH The launch of the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) will direct a lot of attention to the biophysical sciences. A new special issue of the journal Ecological Restoration highlights the need for more focus on human considerations: Equity, inclusion, and justice. The issue— guest-edited by Ruth Meinzen-Dick of IFPRI, Marlène Elias of the Alliance of

BY CHRISTOPHER BUTLER The need to innovate in agriculture is more urgent than ever. The rising global population will require 60% more food by 2050. Increasing urbanization in Africa and Asia and the impacts of climate change demand we produce this food with fewer inputs. While much of the world struggles with the threat of food insecurity, the cost of

BY SARA GUSTAFSON, JOSEPH GLAUBER,MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ, DAVID LABORDE,BRENDAN RICE AND ROB VOS Global food prices are on the rise. FAO’s Food Price Index indicates prices in international markets have risen by 40% from a year ago (May 2020). Prices of vegetable oils in particular have surged, showing an increase by almost 110% over the past year. Other commodity prices, like those for