Newsletter July 2022

The page of the Knowledge Centre dedicated to the Russia’s war against Ukraine and its impact on global food security has been further developed and proposes a selection of key resources organised both by dates and by geographical relevance. 

The World Bank publishes bi-monthly food security updates. The most recent one features the food price inflation in developing countries, the Russia-Ukraine grain agreement and the drought in the Horn Africa. 

The FAO Food Outlook report analyses that an all-time high Global Input Price Index, underpinned by record energy and fertilizer prices, points to exceptionally low prices for farmers in real terms and limited incentives to step up production in 2023. 

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 (FAO) report depicts the deterioration of food security and nutrition in low-and middle-income countries. One in five people in Africa was facing hunger in 2021, compared to approximately 9% in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean. More than 3 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, reflecting the inflation in consumer food price. The report dedicates a full chapter on agricultural subsidies, and calls for repurposing them to promote the production of nutritious food, whereas currently few staple crops (rice, maize and wheat) provide nearly half of the daily calorie intake globally (WEF).

Increasing crop diversification at farm level is a solution for producing more nutritious food and presents several additional advantages. CIRAD, CGIAR, and IFPRI recently published research reveal ample evidence of positive outcomes of crop diversification strategies (agroforestry, service plants, crop rotation, intercropping, and variety mixtures) on crop yields, on farmer incomes, on associated biodiversity, and on numerous ecosystem services, such as soil quality, pest and disease control, water use and quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. An additional research published in NATURE concludes that ecological intensification practices (specifically, increasing crop diversity and adding fertility crops and organic matter) have positive effects on the yield of staple crops and reduces the dependency on fertilisers. However, the Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology notes that very few countries have enacted so far policies that intend to promote one or more agroecological principles. 

Opposite to these nature-based solutions, WEF emphasises the role of the next ‘green revolution’, based on agricultural technology (from vertical farming to alternative proteins, from dairy substitutes to insect farming agri-tech) that promises to produce more with less, decouple food production from environmental degradation and provide food security by ‘crashing’ supply chains and producing locally.

In June, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 (FAO) report was also published. Global consumption and production of aquatic foods continues to increase, and the report stresses that blue food -and in particular aquaculture- can meet the twin challenges of food security and environmental sustainability and represents an important avenue for the transition towards sustainable food systems. This was also highlighted during the United Nations Ocean Conference in June: an 8% increase in the supply of fish by 2030, mostly from aquaculture, could prevent over 160 million cases of micronutrient deficiencies worldwide. On this topic, it has to be highlighted that the WTO members approved in June a significant multilateral agreement to end harmful fisheries subsidies.

Scaling-up social safety nets programmes could play an important role in protecting poor people from the current socio-economic shock. The World Bank notes that 45 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – three times as many as those at the end of the 1990s – had introduced social safety net programs with significant impacts. UNDP analyses that soaring food and energy prices could push up to 71 million people into poverty and concludes that targeted and time-bound cash transfers are the most effective policy response –compared to energy subsidies. Remittances as well are a crucial financial inflow for vulnerable African households, with around US$94 billion received in 2021, a 13% increase compared to 2020 (IFAD).

For food systems to be more nutritious, sustainable and equitable, the Centre for Food Policy advocates for a food systems approach to policymaking, i.e. to take into account possible ripple effects of any single policy on food systems outcomes. The report analyses five policy areas critical to food systems transformation: (1) cash and food transfers, (2) food safety, (3) road transport infrastructure, (4) agricultural extension, and (5) land tenure. 

Finally looking at consumers, WWF notes that there is an appetite for change from EU consumers: 3 out of 5 Europeans want to eat more sustainably and 3 out of 4 want EU legislation to ensure that all products sold in the EU do not lead to biodiversity loss. According to WEF, the Mediterranean diet would be the best diet to promote, taking into account its likelihood of adoption, health benefits and moderate environmental and animal welfare impacts. Consumers could also play a major role in reducing food waste as it is estimated that 17% of the food produced may be wasted at the retail, food-service and consumer stages (UNEP). While, the Voluntary Code of Conduct for Food Loss and Waste Reduction (FAO) lists the key actions to address secondary and systemic causes of food loss and waste, WEF provides concrete example of smartphone apps that have already helped reducing food waste around the globe.