by Katrina Kosec and Johan Swinnen OPEN ACCESS | CC-BY-4.0 In February 2022, news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated headlines around the world. Policymakers everywhere worried about the potential ripple effects of the invasion on the economic recovery from COVID-19, as well as on political stability — and food and nutrition security. These worries proved to be well-founded: International food
by Agnes Quisumbing OPEN ACCESS | CC-BY-4.0 I was recently in Rome attending the April 13 launch of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2023 report The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems. I’ve been privileged to work with FAO colleagues as an external expert on two flagship reports on gender: The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011—Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap
“A shift towards permanent ‘crisis resilience’ from short-term aid is crucial to mitigate increasingly frequent shocks to the global food system and tackle rising global hunger, say food policy researchers,” writes SciDev.Net in a piece featuring IFPRI’s 2023 Global Food Policy Research. “Crises, shocks, and volatility are no longer exceptions and may become the new normal,” says Johan Swinnen, director general of the International Food
by Wei Zhang and Ruth Meinzen-Dick OPEN ACCESS | CC-BY-4.0 Freshwater resources such as rivers, lakes, and wetlands are central to ecosystems and sustain the lives and livelihoods of human beings everywhere, and are an integral part of the culture, spirituality, and way of life of local communities. Unfortunately, freshwater resources are under a multitude of stresses around the world—from
“The breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine, has for years exported vast quantities of grain through the Black Sea. But after Russia’s invasion disrupted those routes, the EU stepped in, removing tariffs and establishing solidarity lanes, or alternative land routes that would allow Ukrainian cereals to reach other countries by passing through Eastern Europe.” The article adds, “cheap Ukrainian grain entered their
by Rob Vos and Joseph Glauber OPEN ACCESS | CC-BY-4.0 Following fierce farm protests over gluts of Ukrainian grain and other food items in their domestic markets, four European Union countries—Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Hungary—have temporarily imposed import restrictions on key agricultural products from Ukraine. Restrictions in Bulgaria entered into force on April 24, and Romania, another EU member, has considered similar measures.
Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) announces that the Ministry of Irrigation and Lowlands (represented by Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the USA, Seleshi Bekele) and Johan Swinnen, the director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly carry out research in irrigation development, capacity building, and knowledge transfer. Read the article. Republished in Fana Broadcasting Corporate, and the Verified
“Some 28 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain have been exported under the Black Sea Grain Initiative since last July, including to poor countries facing the brunt of the world’s spiraling food crisis. But Russia is threatening to walk away from the pact, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey unless its demands are met,” Politico writes. The markets are not taking