Ifpri Podcast

Debt Distress and the Right to Food in Africa Co-organized by IFPRI and Welthungerhilfe (WHH) October 2, 2024 More than half of low-income countries are at risk of debt distress or have already defaulted. The debt crisis, while exacerbated by recent crises, has been looming for several years. According to the United Nations, 3.3 billion people now live in countries that spend more on interest repayments than on education or health, and in sub-Saharan Africa, governments are spending 53 percent of revenue on debt servicing. What do these debt trends mean for efforts to address food insecurity and uphold citizens’ right to food? Twenty years after the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food (RtF) by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, many countries that adopted RtF in their constitutions still face high levels of food and nutrition insecurity. Although the Guidelines incorporate clear guidance on pursuing debt relief to allow for the progressive realization of the RtF, debt repaymen

Agronomy and Policy Solutions for Effective Implementation of the African Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan Co-organized by IFPRI, CGIAR, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and Africa Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ANAPRI) September 10, 2024 CGIAR is pleased to support our regional and national partners in their implementation of the action plan emerging from the May 2024 African Fertilizer and Soil Health (AFSH) Summit. As the seventh policy seminar in the CGIAR series on Strengthening Food Systems Resilience, this event will examine the outcomes of the AFSH Summit and consider how to achieve the goals of the 10-year AFSH Action Plan. Bringing together diverse set of speakers, it will provide a platform for expertise exchange, collaboration, and actionable progress in advancing soil health and agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Featured speakers from the research, policy, nongovernmental, and private sectors will highlight agr

Policy Dialogue/Series/Special Event Against the grain: Could farmers feed the world and heal the planet? Co-organized by IFPRI and The CGIAR Initiative on Nature-Positive Solutions Virtual Event August 27, 2024 Humanity relies on agriculture to provide nourishment, yet there is an urgent need to reduce the agricultural sector’s environmental footprint. Meeting these two goals is crucial for both people and the planet to thrive. Please join us for a conversation featuring Roger Thurow, award-winning author and journalist, whose recently released book argues it is possible for farmers to meet these two critical objectives. This seminar will discuss the importance of heeding the wisdom and experiences of the world’s smallholder, Indigenous, and family farmers, who are facing the effects of climate change and environmental degradation firsthand as they endeavor to earn a living and feed their families and communities. Perspectives from farmers will highlight how the practices of agroforestry, agroecology, and

IFPRI Policy Seminar The Unjust Climate: Measuring the impacts of climate change on rural poor, women, and youth Co-organized by IFPRI, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Gender, Climate Change and Nutrition Integration Initiative (GCAN) June 18, 2024 9:30 – 11:00 am (America/New York) 3:30 – 5:00 pm (Europe/Amsterdam) 7:00 – 8:30 pm (Asia/Kolkata) More intense and frequent climate events are increasingly disrupting agriculture-based livelihoods, with disproportionate effects on marginalized groups, including women farmers. Yet there is a lack of empirical research on the adverse effects of these extreme weather events, making it even more challenging to build smallholders’ resilience and address rising gender inequalities. In a recent report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations quantified the negative impacts of certain extreme climate events on poor rural households. The report, which included contributions from the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Gender,

CGIAR SEMINAR SERIES Famines and Fragility: Making humanitarian, developmental, and peacebuilding responses work Co-organized by IFPRI, CGIAR, and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) 14:30 TO 16:15 CET JUN 11, 2024 - 9:30 TO 11:15AM EDT Globally, the number of people facing crisis-level or worse acute food insecurity has more than doubled since 2017. The 2024 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), which informs the Global Network Against Food Crises on where humanitarian and developmental assistance is most needed, reported 282 million people in 59 food crisis countries faced crisis-levels of acute food insecurity and more than 700,000 people suffered famine in 2023. These numbers have increased with the crises in Gaza, Sudan, and Haiti. Conflict and fragility are major drivers of food crises, often compounded by weather extremes and economic shocks. Sound understanding of these drivers and of the structural factors underlying fragility is needed for timely and appropriat

HYBRID POLICY SEMINAR Tackling the Hidden Costs of our Food Systems Co-organized by IFPRI, The Food System Economics Commission (FSEC), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) JUN 6, 2024 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EDT Food systems provide important benefits to the global population, not only providing food but also supporting livelihoods for more than one billion people around the globe. However, food systems also encompass hidden environmental, health, and social costs, estimated to be at least $10 trillion per year, as mapped out in two separate seminal reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC). Please join us for a discussion on these hidden costs of food systems and the remedies to reduce this economic burden, while moving toward more sustainable, health-promoting, and socially inclusive food systems. Speakers include experts involved in FAO’s report, The State of Food and Agriculture 2023, and FSEC’s Global Policy Report, The Economics of the

SPECIAL EVENT Understanding the New Dynamics of Agrifood Trade, Perspectives by Pascal Lamy Co-hosted jointly by IFPRI and Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) MAY 30, 2024 - 2:30 TO 4:00PM EDT Geopolitical tensions, as well as conflicts at the regional, national, and local levels, climate change and sustainability challenges, and the troubling rise in the number of malnourished people worldwide form part of the complex web of factors shaping agrifood dynamics, and in turn, trade policies and negotiations. Please join us for a lecture by IFPRI Board Chair Pascal Lamy, a foremost expert in international trade matters, who served as the European Union’s Trade Commissioner and as the World Trade Organization’s Director General. In examining past, present, and possible future dynamics of agrifood trade, Lamy will focus on evolving implications for developing countries and set forth potential approaches to aligning trade policies with the imperatives of sustainability, climate change adaptation

Despite significant progress in addressing hunger, malnutrition remains a major challenge in all regions of the world. Unhealthy diets are a major driver of all forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, overweight and obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies, as well as diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Worldwide, as many as 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. The imperative to transform our food systems to ensure sustainable healthy diets for all has never been stronger; meaningful change will require that we deploy high-impact, evidence-based solutions in context-specific ways that are adaptable, dynamic, and equitable. IFPRI’s 2024 Global Food Policy Report on Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Nutrition presents policy and governance solutions to strengthen diet quality and nutrition in low- and middle-income countries, and examines priorities for future research on food systems for better nutrition. Drawing on a substantial body of research on diets, agriculture, and food systems f

HYBRID POLICY SEMINAR Globalization of the Bioeconomy: Recent Trends and Drivers of Bioeconomy Programs and Policies Co-organized by IFPRI, International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) and CGIAR MAY 7, 2024 - 9:00 TO 10:30AM EDT The bioeconomy approach to sustainable development holds great promise in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, addressing climate change, and promoting resource-use efficiency, thereby stimulating economic growth, enabling innovation, and improving food security. The bioeconomy is the production, utilization, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide sustainable solutions (information, products, processes, and services) within and across all economic sectors and enable a transformation to a sustainable economy. Multilateral organizations have intensified their engagement in, and for, the bioeconomy. Under India’s lead in 2023, the G20 drew attention to the bioeconomy and, in 202

HYBRID POLICY SEMINAR Sudan at a Crossroads: Food Systems, Hunger, and Humanitarian Aid During Civil Conflict MAY 2, 2024 - 10:00 TO 11:30AM EDT In April 2023, Sudan descended into a violent civil war that has displaced more than 8 million people, destroyed critical infrastructure, and left half the country’s population in need of humanitarian assistance. More than one year later, the unresolved conflict threatens agricultural production, agroprocessing, and trade, exacerbating Sudan’s status as a failed state. Sudan’s trajectory is therefore relevant for the broader community of scholars and practitioners working to enhance food systems and food security in fragile states facing complex humanitarian emergencies. This IFPRI policy seminar will reflect on urgent data, analytical, and policy needs to mitigate food insecurity and revitalize food systems in Sudan. Several interrelated issues will be addressed, including options for policy engagement in the absence of a legitimate government, the viability of ba

POLICY SEMINAR Dairy and Nutrition in the Global South: Potential, Progress, and Obstacles Ahead APR 24, 2024 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EDT Malnutrition in early childhood is a major risk factor for premature death and disease, and is associated with 45% of all deaths of children under the age of 5. But malnutrition has important economic consequences too, by delaying learning and slowing down economic growth. Solving malnutrition requires multi-sectoral efforts, including more nutrition-oriented food policies. But how exactly can food policies improve nutrition? This policy seminar examines the potential of dairy development to improve nutrition outcomes, focusing on dairy’s sizable potential for reducing child stunting and other forms of malnutrition, and how dairy systems are being developed to help meet this potential. Speakers will present success stories that highlight diverse paths to progress, as well as major economic and environmental challenges to scaling up dairy production and consumption in the globa

POLICY SEMINAR Deepening Social Protection Systems: Enhancing livelihoods and health in Ethiopia APR 17, 2024 - 10:30AM TO 12:00PM EDT Twenty years after the establishment of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), a major social protection system, the country’s government, donors, and other stakeholders are implementing multidimensional graduation model programs that are designed to complement the PSNP’s monthly food and cash transfers. Graduation models include multiple interventions such as large asset or lump-sum transfers, training, savings promotion, and other forms of nutrition, health, or psychosocial support. These models aim to move beyond cash or food transfers to ensure minimum consumption levels and address the multiple challenges that can trap poor households in poverty. This event will present findings from a randomized controlled trial of Strengthening PSNP Institutions and Resilience (SPIR), a graduation model program embedded within the PSNP that is led by World Vision, in collab

CGIAR SEMINAR SERIES Post COP28 Priorities for Advancing Food Systems Transformation Co-organized by IFPRI, CGIAR, and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) MAR 27, 2024 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EDT / 14:30 TO 16:00 CET Held in 2023, the planet’s hottest year on record, COP28 has been heralded for its strong focus on food systems, which are simultaneously threatened by and contribute to climate change. The COP28 Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, albeit non-binding, but endorsed by almost 160 countries, emphasizes the transformative potential of agriculture and food systems in responding to climate change and ensuring global food security. Insufficient climate finance represents a significant barrier to achieving climate-resilient and low-emission food systems. Given that smallholders produce the majority of the global food supply, special attention to their finance needs is critical. As the fifth policy seminar in the CGIAR serie

LAUNCH EVENT Global Food 50/50 Launch Event Co-organized by Global Health 50/50, IFPRI, and UN Women MAR 7, 2024 - 9:00 TO 10:30AM EST / 1:00 TO 2:30pm BST The Global Food 50/50 initiative monitors progress and holds food system organizations accountable for advancing gender-just and equitable food systems. This event marks the launch of the third annual Global Food 50/50 Report, which reviews the gender- and equity-related policies and practices of 51 global food system organizations to assess two interlinked dimensions of inequality: inequality of opportunity in careers within organizations and inequality in who benefits from the global food system. For the first time, the 2023/2024 Report expands its focus to address a policy area that plays a decisive role in promoting equality of opportunity in the workplace: the extent to which workplace policies recognize and support employees’ care responsibilities. The data reveal policy attention to parental leave, but other policies related to family needs, such

CGIAR SEMINAR SERIES Reforming Agricultural Policies and Farm Support to Advance Sustainable Food System Transformation Co-organized by IFPRI, CGIAR, and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) 15:00 TO 16:45 CET FEB 29, 2024 - 9:00 TO 10:45AM EST In the recent COP28 Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, world leaders affirmed that “agriculture and food systems must urgently adapt and transform in order to respond to the imperatives of climate change.” This declaration strengthens the growing global consensus that current food systems need urgent transformative change to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition and to make food production and delivery systems resilient and sustainable. Evidence-based policies are critical to steer such a transformation, which requires urgent action from governments around the world—both in the global North and the global South—to better align, reform, or repurpose current policies and public supp

POLICY SEMINAR Introducing the new Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) FEB 22, 2024 - 9:00 TO 10:30AM EST The new Women’s Empowerment Metric for National Statistical Systems (WEMNS) https://weai.ifpri.info/wemns/ is a streamlined tool for measuring women’s empowerment, intended for use in large-scale, multitopic surveys conducted by national statistical systems. WEMNS is designed to measure empowerment in households with all types of livelihoods, in both urban and rural areas, complementing the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) https://weai.ifpri.info/, which focuses on agricultural households. WEMNS was developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Emory University, Oxford University, and the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study Unit in collaboration with country partners and the 50x2030 Initiative, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development. This event will pre

SPECIAL EVENT From Commitments to Impact: Analyzing the Global Commitments Toward Promoting Food Security and Healthy Diets Co-organized by IFPRI and The Rockefeller Foundation FEB 6, 2024 - 9:00 TO 10:30AM EST Since the mid-2010s, progress in reducing food insecurity and improving diet quality has stalled. Multiple shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, have exacerbated the situation and put Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger further out of reach. There have been many calls for action to address the food and diets crisis facing vulnerable people around the world. The private sector has been called on to invest in transforming food systems—at an annual rate of $320 billion—while the development banks have been asked to align financial incentives with food system-related goals. While some of these actors have stepped up, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) opening of a food shock window to channel funds to countries beset by cri

BOOK LAUNCH Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future Co-organized by IFPRI, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), and CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) JAN 8, 2024 - 4:30 TO 5:45PM EAT Food systems transformation offers a promising avenue to achieve the goals Kenya has set out in the Bottom-Up Economic Agenda (BETA). The new book Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future, edited by Clemens Breisinger, Michael Keenan, Jemimah Njuki, and Juneweenex Mbuthia, takes a critical look at Kenya’s whole food system, including food supply chains, the food environment, consumer behavior, external drivers, and development outcomes and considers the system’s history and experiences from other countries. With chapters authored by Kenyan and international experts, this collaborative work presents both a bird’s-eye view of the

IFPRI-AMIS SEMINAR SERIES Emerging Trends in the Global Soybean Complex Co-organized by IFPRI and Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) DEC 14, 2023 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EST Global changes in soybean production and consumption are reshaping global markets. Global oilseed prices have fallen considerably since last year’s record highs. World soybean production is likely to hit a record high in 2023/24, with global ending stocks projected to rebuild for the second consecutive year. Global soybean trade continues to be driven by China, which accounts for about 60% of total soybean imports. China’s domestic consumption has grown at about 4% per year over the past 10 years. In the United States, increased biodiesel production has diverted more soybean production to be crushed domestically for soybean oil, reducing soybean exports. As a result, Brazil and other suppliers have seen their market shares grow. In 2023/24, Brazil is projected to account for almost 58% of total soybean exports. This seminar will ex

POLICY SEMINAR From Farm to Table: Agrifood Systems and Trade Challenges in the Southern Cone Co-organized by IFPRI and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) DEC 12, 2023 - 9:30 TO 11:00AM EST De la granja a la mesa: Sistemas agroalimentarios y retos comerciales en el Cono Sur Esta presentación será en español. Habrá traducción simultánea al inglés. Los sistemas alimentarios de todo el mundo se enfrentan a retos sociales, nutricionales y medioambientales graves, y deben evolucionar para cumplir nuevos y diversos objetivos interrelacionados. A medida las políticas públicas que se remodelan para apoyar esta transformación, hay que tener en cuenta dos factores fundamentales: (1) Se necesitan innovaciones tecnológicas que permitan satisfacer la demanda de una mayor productividad de forma respetuosa con el medioambiente. (2) Es esencial allanar el camino de los flujos comerciales internacionales, y esto requiere una mejora en las normas comerciales que permita facilitar los flujos desde