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NEWS in BRIEF #89
29 April 2020
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.
Laos regulates marketing of breastmilk substitutes
The Prime Minister of Laos has signed a decree to regulate marketing of breastmilk substitutes. The decree includes: (1) regulations following World Health Assembly recommendations on infant and follow-on formula for children up to 36 months old and (2) guidance on labelling breastmilk substitutes, prohibitions on actions that create conflicts of interest with health workers, and other safeguards.
 
G-20 Agricultural Ministers vow to oppose measures disrupting food supply
The G20 Agricultural Ministers commit to guarding against disruptive measures in response to COVID-19 that could threaten food security and nutrition, especially for vulnerable populations. Their statement emphasizes that emergency measures should not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global food supply chains.
2020 Global Report on Food Crises sees hunger on the rise
Conflict and insecurity are still the main drivers of food crises. COVID-19 may drive up hunger in the 55 countries that are home to 135 million acutely food-insecure people. The Global Network Against Food Crises released their annual report to tackle root causes of food crises and prevent a food catastrophe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more in the report synopsis, interactive, and blog.
 
Research and development priorities to build inclusive food systems for healthy diets
A brief from the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) delves into the challenges to food systems in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Viet Nam to improve diets, and provides research and development priorities for inclusive food system transformation. The brief and accompanying blog complement IFPRI’s 2020 Global Food Policy Report on building inclusive food system
 
Mainstreaming nutrition in policy processes
A Food Policy paper unpacks the mechanisms for nutrition policy integration to address malnutrition in Uganda and highlights four ways to mainstream nutrition in policy processes: (1) international policy promotion; (2) issue promotion by international actors; (3) issue promotion by domestic policy entrepreneurs; and (4) instrumental policy learning. Mechanisms to disintegrate policy processes are: leadership contestation and turf wars.
Impacts and threats of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security/nutrition, and options to respond
As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, the development community is working to understand how the crisis will impact food security, nutrition, and food systems:
  • IFPRI will host a virtual event  on April 30 to look at what to expect, and how developing countries can respond in ways that promote food security, nutrition, and greater equity.
     
  • The latest special issue of the IFPRI Insights newsletter highlights a series of new blog posts including discussions on the impacts on the COVID-19 nutritional crisis and its threats to global malnutrition, dietary quality, and maternal and child health. See IFPRI’s COVID-19 spotlight page for more blogs and resources.
     
  • The World Food Programme (WFP) analyzes the economic and food security implications of the pandemic for the world’s poorest people.
     
  • The Chatham House and partners share webinars on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for African economies and development and for food security and resilience in Africa. 
     
  • FAO and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) brought partners together in a webinar on COVID-19 and the risks to food supply chains in Africa. 
     
  • The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) provides dire warning that COVID-19 could push 27 million people in Africa to extreme poverty and that 300,000 Africans could lose their lives.
     
Impacts and threats of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security/nutrition, and options to respond
The FAO eLearning Academy series of technical webinars hosted Agreenium, UN-ESCAP, and others to share experiences, lessons learnt, evidence, and solutions to boost nutrition sensitivity in agri-food systems. Compact2025 Technical Advisory Committee member Patrizia Fracassi shared her perspectives on the key opportunities to integrate nutrition into food system policies, investments, and programs.
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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