BY SWATI MALHOTRA AND ALEXANDRIA RICHTER More than 155 million people experienced acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse around the world in 2020, an increase of 20 million from 2019 and a five-year high, as the COVID-19 pandemic compounded economic shocks, conflicts, and climate and severe weather impacts, estimates the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC). In a mutual
BY SARAH EISSLER, JESSICA HECKERT,EMILY MYERS, GREG SEYMOUR, SHEELA SINHAROY, KATHRYN M. YOUNT AND JESSICA WALLACH Substantial gender gaps in time spent on unpaid domestic and care work can be found in every region of the world, and have expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are due, in large part, to rigid gender norms that place responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work
BY HAGAR ELDIDI AND RUTH MEINZEN-DICK The commons (natural resources held and used collectively) support food systems through direct production and provision of water, food, fuel, fodder, pollination, and other key ecosystem services, and are also important sources of resilience for communities. They thus contribute to nature-positive solutions and advance equitable livelihoods. Yet the commons are under pressure from encroachment
According to the OECD’s recently released 2021 Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Report, the governments of at least 54 countries provided transfers to agriculture of around $720 billion per year during 2018-2020. The report notes that “Overall, most current support policies are not serving the wider needs of food systems.” That spending could be redirected to finance food systems transformation—helping
BY CLAUDIA RINGLER Accelerating the development of sustainable groundwater use in Africa could be pivotal in the transformation of the continent’s food security and prosperity. This was the key message of a July 6 UN Food Systems Summit Science Days side event organized by the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), along with IFPRI, the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and
BY EMILY BROAD LEIB AND DOUG O’BRIEN As much as one third of all food produced is lost or wasted. Rather than reaching the estimated 820 million people who face hunger around the world, that food is thrown away and decomposes, contributing 8%-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Loss and waste occur across food supply chains: On farms, because of surplus or imperfect products, and downstream
BY ELS LECOUTERE,MARRIT VAN DEN BERG AND ALAN DE BRAUW Effective food systems innovations—defined as policies, technologies, and/or institutional innovations that trigger changes in food systems dynamics and outcomes—can help produce healthier, more sustainable outcomes, and are essential to confront our current global challenges, which are formidable. Food insecurity persists around the world, along with high rates of micronutrient malnutrition and
BY SWATI MALHOTRA On top of climate-driven shocks, conflicts, and economic stresses, the COVID-19 pandemic undermined the livelihoods of billions around the world in 2020. Food insecurity grew: 155 million people suffered acute hunger and 34 million people were on the brink of famine in 20 countries, according to the 2021 Global Report on Food Crises. The May 10 T20 Forum