Compact2025 News in Brief: August 21, 2019

To accelerate progress to end hunger and undernutrition around the world, the News in Brief informs partners on emerging research and innovation, developments in global, regional, and national policies and programs, and timely news and events. Please feel free to share any feedback at IFPRI-Compact2025@cgiar.org. Find the latest developments in Compact2025 here.

African legislators’ 'model law' for food security and nutrition

During a recent meeting in South Africa, the African Union’s Pan-African Parliamentary Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources drafted a model law on food security and nutrition to guide or serve as a source of inspiration for countries looking to develop national or sub-national legislation on these issues.

Climate change and land

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report (summary for policymakers | full report) explores how land use—including for agriculture and food production—contributes to climate change and how climate change affects land and food security. It finds that agriculture and forestry represented 23 percent of total net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions during 2007–2016, and suggests that coordinated action to address climate change can simultaneously improve land, food security and nutrition, and help to end hunger.

Maternal and child health and nutrition programs need to tackle double-duty objectives

A study in the Journal of Nutrition on a food-assisted maternal and child health and nutrition program in Guatemala finds that while aiming to reduce childhood undernutrition, the program increased women's weight in the perinatal period. The authors call for programs to include “double-duty” objectives and actions that ensure that addressing child undernutrition does not lead to unhealthy weight gain in mothers.

Modernizing food environments and dietary transitions in Africa

A study in Sustainability examines relationships between consumers’ socioeconomic status, use of different modern and traditional retailers, and dietary patterns in Zambia. On average, modern retailers account for 42 percent of all household food expenditures, however with notable differences between the poor and rich. The use of modern retailers and traditional stores and kiosks are both positively associated with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods—this suggests that modern retailers are not the only drivers of dietary transitions.

The global cost of not breastfeeding

Alive and Thrive has developed a global brief for advocates on the costs of not breastfeeding and a set of advocacy briefs for nine countries. The briefs provide key research findings and outline actions that donors and policymakers can take to support breastfeeding.

Enhancing resilience to climate shocks in Ethiopia

In an article in The Telegraph, Claudia Ringler, Deputy Director of IFPRI’s Environment Production and Technology Division and Turhan Saleh, Resident Representative of the UNDP Ethiopia Country Office, reflect on new research that reviews Ethiopia’s resilience programming and identifies options for building greater resilience into the agricultural system.

World Water Week 2019: Water for society – Including all

World Water Week will take place August 25–30 in Stockholm, Sweden. This year’s event will focus on the theme of “Water for society – Including all” with sessions focused on themes like climate change, governance of water resources, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

My Food, Our Future video competition

IFPRI invites young filmmakers to submit a 1–2 minute video for the second annual My Food, Our Future video competition. Videos should offer ideas and solutions that can help ensure the world has access to healthy, diverse, and affordable diets.

FAO offers course on effective nutrition education

FAO’s ENACT course for professional development in nutrition education is available in two formats—face-to-face or online. It is intended for institutions training nutrition or health undergraduate/graduate students to become professionals who will carry out nutrition education in the African context.

Africa food security leadership dialogue

The African Union Commission, African Development Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and World Bank convened a high-level meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, August 5–6, to catalyze actions and financing to help address Africa’s worsening food security crisis under climate change. The Africa Food Security Leadership Dialogue concluded with a joint Communiqué urging development partners to strengthen their coordination efforts to better support countries to accelerate progress towards their collective food and nutrition security goals.

Highlights from this and past Compact2025 News in Briefs, along with other key resources, can be found at the Compact2025 Knowledge & Innovation Hub resources page.

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