A major international push to accelerate agricultural innovation across the Global South took centre stage in New Delhi today, as the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation was commemorated amid mounting climate, water and food-security pressures across the world’s drylands.
Adolescence is a pivotal period for nutrition and health when young people begin to make more of their own decisions about what, where, and when to eat.
Reflections from Rome Nutrition Week, 25–28 May 2026
Urbanization is rapidly transforming food environments in many countries, with 68% of the global population expected to be living in urban areas by 2050. In Viet Nam, where the urban population is projected to expand from 19% in 2000 to 50% by 2030, this trend is expanding access to a wide range of foods, including energy-dense and ultra-processed products. These changes bring both opportunities and risks, particularly for adolescents as they gain more autonomy over their food choices. But what does urbanization really mean for adolescent diets and nutrition?
EcoFoodSystems, in partnership with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), the Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and Efuye Gela have been co-developing a serious game about Ethiopia’s food-based dietary guidelines with adolescents studying in secondary schools in Addis Ababa.
The Latin American and Caribbean Landscape Report of Food Security and Healthy Diets, developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT together with the Instituto de Nutrición de Centroamérica y Panamá (INCAP), was presented across two events: an English-language session on May 4 and a Spanish-language session on May 5. Participants joined from over 20 countries, including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, México, the USA, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela.