The good news: Ending hunger and malnutrition received increased attention in key circles in 2018. The bad news: rates of undernutrition have been rising and threats from conflict and climate change have continued to grow. Here are some policy developments, research findings, and major events we found most interesting.
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African leaders commit to nutrition
In January, African leaders committed to overcome malnutrition and elevate nutrition as driver for economic growth and sustainable development. This initiative is championed by the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission.
WHO calls on governments to eliminate trans-fats from global food chain
The World Health Organization released guidelines in May calling on all governments to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids—which extend food shelf life but also lead to over 500,000 deaths annually from cardiovascular and heart disease—from the food supply. This WHO effort contributes to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of reducing premature death from noncommunicable diseases by a third.
U.S. Global Food Security Reauthorization Act signed into law
The Global Food Security Reauthorization Act was signed into law in October. The USAID Administrator noted that the U.S. Government's Feed the Future initiative has made significant impact in reducing poverty and hunger and will continue to empower smallholder farmers and strengthen communities and economies to protect and accelerate their progress.
Behavior change communication in Bangladesh
A study of behavior change communication in Bangladesh by Cornell and IFPRI researchers released in January presents three main findings: (1) this type of communication improves knowledge on infant and young child nutrition substantially in the first year of intervention, (2) the increase in knowledge between the 1st and 2nd year is smaller, (3) knowledge persists: there are no significant decreases in knowledge 6–10 months after the communication activities ended.
Rise in number of people affected by food crises
124 million people in 51 countries were affected by acute food insecurity during 2017—11 million more people than the previous year—finds the Global Report on Food Crises 2018 published in March. The report—produced by a group of international partners including FAO, IFPRI, and WFP—finds that food crises are increasingly determined by complex causes such as conflict, extreme climatic shocks, and high prices of staple foods often acting at the same time.
Reducing stunting in Africa
The World Bank report “All Hands on Deck” released in June reviews multisectoral approaches to reduce stunting in 33 African countries. It finds the greatest reductions in stunting associated with increases in access to three underlying drivers of nutrition: (1) food security, (2) health, and (3) water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
Number of undernourished people increases
The 2018 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report released in September analyzes the drivers of hunger and malnutrition and finds that the absolute number of undernourished people has increased to nearly 821 million in 2017, from around 804 million in 2016. This year’s report stresses that climate extremes and variability are threatening to erode and reverse gains made in ending hunger and malnutrition.
Technology firms and international organizations partner to prevent famine
The United Nations, World Bank, International Committee of the Red Cross, Microsoft, Google and Amazon launched the Famine Action Mechanism (FAM) in October. FAM is the first global partnership to prevent future famines by working closely with existing systems and using the predictive power of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Reduce child stunting through improved access and affordability of animal-sourced foods
There is a strong association between consumption of animal-sourced foods and child growth according to an article by IFPRI and Cornell researchers published in October. As the high prices of these foods restrict consumption, there is an important role for agricultural policies to improve access and affordability of animal-sourced foods in poorer countries.
Launching the first African Agricultural Transformation Scorecard
The African Union launched the first-ever African Agricultural Transformation Scorecard in January. The scorecard is an innovative tool that tracks the agriculture sector progress of African countries toward achieving the seven broad commitments of the 2014 Malabo Declaration.
Lawrence Haddad and David Nabarro win 2018 World Food Prize
Dr. Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David Nabarro were awarded the 2018 World Food Prize in October for their global leadership in elevating maternal and child undernutrition to a central issue within the food security and development dialogue at national and international levels.
Global event on Accelerating the End of Hunger and Malnutrition
