2019 saw increasing attention to the intersections of food systems and environmental sustainability throughout the year. Conflicts, climate shocks, economic turbulence, and affordability of healthy food continued to pose major challenges to ending hunger and malnutrition in the developing world. Here are some of the year’s policy developments, research findings, and major events that we found most noteworthy.
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In February, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, and global partners launched the Continental Nutrition Accountability Scorecard, intended to raise awareness and reinforce commitments at the highest levels of African governments to help end malnutrition.
Canada’s first-ever national food policy
The Government of Canada launched the country’s first-ever federal Food Policy in June. It will invest in short-term action areas to increase access to healthy food, support food security, and reduce food waste, and will help Canada meet its commitments under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
India’s draft policy for women empowerment highlights food security and nutrition
In June, India’s government drafted a national policy for women’s empowerment with a priority on their food security and nutrition. It envisions a society in which women attain their full potential and participate as equal partners in all spheres of life.
WHO member states adopt strategic plan to reduce malnutrition in Africa
The World Health Organization adopted a strategic plan to reduce the double burden of malnutrition in Africa at its 69th Regional Committee meeting for the African Region in August.
Healthy diets from sustainable food systems
The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health published a study in January outlining how to sustainably feed a future population of 10 billion people a healthy diet. IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan served as a Commissioner for the report and provided his key takeaways in a video message and blog post.
Seizing the momentum for agriculture and nutrition
In February, IFPRI and CABI published Agriculture for Improved Nutrition: Seizing the Momentum reviewing the latest findings, results from on-the-ground programs and interventions, and recent policy experiences from countries around the world that are forging the agriculture and nutrition sectors closer together. The book launch was hosted by IFPRI and accompanied by a three-part blog series, beginning with a post by the book’s editors.
Over 100 million people faced acute hunger in 2018
According to the Global Report on Food Crises 2019 released in April, more than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger in 2018 driven primarily by conflict and insecurity, climate shocks, and economic turbulence. A mid-year update to the report published in September provided revised numbers on current global food crises.
Increasing CO2 levels and projected climate change reduce nutrient content
A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health in July estimated that the combined effects of projected increases in atmospheric CO2 will reduce the global availability of nutrients by 19.5 percent for protein, 14.4 percent for iron, and 14.6 percent for zinc relative to expected technology and market gains by 2050.
Global hunger still on the rise for third year in a row
More than 820 million people did not have enough to eat in 2018, over 9 million more than in 2017. This was the third year of increase in a row according to the annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 report launched in July. IFPRI and FAO hosted a discussion on the key findings of the report.
UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report explores the changing face of malnutrition
For the first time in 20 years, UNICEF’s flagship report released in October examined the issue of children, food, and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge. It found that despite progress in the past two decades, one third of children under age 5 are malnourished and two thirds are at risk of malnutrition and hidden hunger because of the poor quality of their diets.
The global food system delivers the wrong prices of healthy and unhealthy foods
An article published in The Journal of Nutrition in November assessed the relative caloric prices for different food categories across 176 countries and found that prices vary systematically across countries and partially explain international differences in the prevalences of undernutrition and overweight adults. In an IFPRI blog post, the paper’s authors noted that as countries develop, their food systems get better at providing healthier foods cheaply, but they also get better at providing unhealthier foods cheaply.
Assessing the affordability of the EAT–Lancet reference diet
A study published in November in The Lancet Global Health used food price and household income data of 159 countries to estimate affordability of the benchmark diets recommended in the EAT-Lancet Commission report. The conclusion is that the reference diet costs a small fraction of average incomes in high-income countries but is not affordable for the world's poor: to improve diets for them, some combination of higher income, nutritional assistance, and lower prices would be needed.
Global launch of UN Decade of Family Farming
FAO and IFAD launched the UN Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028 in May. This initiative aims to shed new light on what it means to be a family farmer in a rapidly changing world and highlights the important role family farmers play in eradicating hunger and shaping our future of food.
Botswana joins Compact2025 as focal country
In September, Compact2025 announced its engagement with Botswana as a Focal Country committed to accelerating progress to end hunger and malnutrition.
UN General Assembly and associated events tackle SDG progress, global inequality, and food systems
Winners of My Food, Our Future video contest announced
The winners of IFPRI’s My Food, Our Future video competition were announced in October. The contest called on young people in two different age categories to submit a creative short film with their ideas and solutions to help ensure global access to healthy, diverse, and affordable diets.
