Critical, emerging and enduring issues for food security and nutrition

Report on emerging global food crisis of enormous proportions, greatly magnified by the war in Ukraine, further accentuated by closely following upon the COVID-19 pandemic. These developments caused serious disruptions to food supply chains around the world, threatening the food security of millions of people. These latest crises only intensified the already worsening global FSN situation, which, since 2021, has been aggravated by the onset of inflationary pressures, leading to dramatically higher food prices. Many of the countries most seriously affected by rising hunger and malnutrition have already spent scarce resources to bolster social protection spending and access to food during the pandemic. Changing economic policies around the world, including higher interest rates to quell inflation, are exacerbating the debt problems of the world’s poorest countries, and these countries are finding it difficult to finance necessary food imports, especially given rising global food prices. Climate change has resulted in ever more frequent and severe extreme weather events, as well as ongoing internal and international conflicts. Moreover, growing social, economic and political polarization also deepens the current crisis, leading to an acute series of challenges. The full report and slides available.