Building food system resilience before the next crisis

The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2023 estimates that about 258 million people in 58 countries faced high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above or equivalent) and required urgent food assistance in 2022. This is the highest number in the seven-year history of the GRFC, and 34% higher than the number presented in the GRFC 2022. (Publication #1)

The World economic outlook 2023 outlines the high economic vulnerability of low-income developing countries. About 56 percent of them are estimated to be either already in debt distress or at high risk of it. With debt levels, inflation, and financial market volatility elevated, low-income developing countries have limited space to offset new negative shocks. The report stresses the importance of increasing tax capacity and protecting the poorest in these countries, and to safeguard food and fertilisers supply and their distribution globally. (Publication #2). 

IPES-Food’s special report on Debt and Food crisis (Publication #3) states that unsustainable food systems are a critical factor behind rising debt and hunger today. It recalls that Africaʼs food import dependency has tripled in recent decades, leaving them more exposed to food price spikes. According to the authors, debt relief must go hand-in-hand with transforming food systems and building resilience to climate change – which can reduce food and fertilizer import dependency, hunger and climate vulnerability. 

When adding to this tense macroeconomic context major natural disasters, civil unrest and political instability, and climate change, the IFPRI 2023 Global Food Policy Report estimates that “crises, shocks, and volatility are no longer exceptions and may become the new normal”. (Publication #4). IFPRI’s flagship report advocates for a shift in thinking, from short-term humanitarian assistance towards permanent crisis resilience. The report makes a clear case for increasing the effectiveness of early warning systems and improving the monitoring of risk factors. It also stresses the critical role of social protection to build crisis resilience and regrets that the share of ODA allocated to it has remained relatively stagnant. (News #1, #2 and #3)

Building on the critical importance of social safety nets to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population, the recent WFP publication on The State of School Feeding Worldwide 2022 highlights that school feeding, supported by strong national political leadership, is one of the largest and most widespread social safety nets in the world. The report stresses the high return on investment of these programs, and calls for as better coverage in low-income developing countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa for instance, only 27% of children access a school meal. WFP calls for development partners to reverse the reduction in international support to school feeding programmes. (Publication #5, News #4 & #5)

Reinforcing the message of WFP, the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition states that locally-sourced school meals reveal a multiple-win opportunity for policymakers with important benefits for school achievement, employment and national economic growth. It recommends to link the provision of healthy school meals with nutrition promotion and education objectives to promote healthy eating habits.  (Publications #6)

The Economist Report sponsored by the CGIAR “Ending hunger: the role of agri-food financing” is also in favour of a shift from short-term crisis response to interventions that strengthen food security in the long term, including extension services, agricultural R&D, digital information services, and small-scale irrigation expansion. It found that almost half of overseas development assistance for food and agriculture was spent on food aid in 2021, when less than 7.5% was spent on research and innovation to tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition. (Publication #7)

The call to increase support for research and development to promote innovation for sustainable agri-food systems is echoed by a recent publication of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. (Publication #8)

Agri-food systems must work for women 

The report published by FAO “The Status of women in agrifood systems” estimates that between 2019 and 2021, the gender gap in food security has more than doubled. It demonstrates that tackling gender inequalities in agrifood systems and empowering women reduces hunger, boosts the economy and reinforces resilience to shocks. FAO estimates that closing gender gaps in the factors that drive wages and productivity would generate additional global economic activity worth nearly 1 trillion USD, nearly a third of Africa’s GDP. Improving access to agricultural land, formal child care, and to extension services are among the most effective measures identified. (Publication #9, News #4&#5)

Successful transformation should however rely on stronger political commitment. IFPRI reckons that while 75% of agricultural policy documents from 68 countries recognize women’s role and the challenges they face in agricultural development, only 19% had gender equality rights in agriculture or women’s rights as explicit policy objectives. (News #6). The authors recommend addressing the continued lack of high-quality data disaggregated by sex, age, and other forms of social and economic differentiation, which is paramount to monitoring and accelerating progress towards gender equality in agri-food systems. (News #7 & #8)

Complementing the findings of FAO’s report, Publication #10 provides a comparative analysis of the situation of a large number (36) of agricultural value chains, between 2016 and 2022, from a gender equality perspective.

Healthy diets are out of reach for an increasing number of consumers

The latest edition of the Near East and North Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition report shows that healthy diets are not affordable for a growing part of the population. More than half the population in the Arab States, or 162.7 million people, could not afford a healthy diet in 2020. (Publication #11). In comparison, this percentage reaches 44.5 in the Asia and the Pacific Region and 22.5 in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Publication #12 & #13)

Publication #11 argues that trade presents a significant opportunity for an adequate supply of diversified food, especially to countries with constrained domestic production. It makes a series of recommendations for leveraging trade as an enabler of food security in the region, in particular by harnessing the potential of intra-regional trade. The report recommends as well reallocating public spending to increase availability and affordability of healthy foods.