Highlights of recent IFPRI food policy research for the European Commission 2016


Book Description

EC financial support has helped to ensure that IFPRI’s research remains responsive, innovative, and effective in tackling the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving food security and poverty alleviation. Over the years, the EC’s support to IFPRI provided the necessary foundation for cuttingedge research in areas such as climate change; biofuels; and the nexus of agriculture, nutrition, and health. This support has helped IFPRI partner with strategic European partners in civil society, higher education, and public sector areas, with a focus on making food security research accessible through the development of global public goods, capacity-building networks, and technological platforms. In June 2015, IFPRI, the EC, and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) joined together to bring experts and stakeholders to discuss the latest thinking on sustainably improving livelihoods and welfare at a Brussels workshop, “Improving Food Systems for Better Lives.” The workshop highlighted the need for greater convergence among diverse actors, sectors, and stakeholders for the development and implementation of innovative solutions that will improve food systems and enhance food and nutrition security around the world.




2016 Global Food Policy Report: Synopsis


Book Description

The Global Food Policy Report is IFPRI’s flagship publication. This year’s annual report examines major food policy issues, global and regional developments, and commitments made in 2015, and presents data on key food policy indicators. The report also proposes key policy options for 2016 and beyond to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015, the global community made major commitments on sustainable development and climate change. The global food system lies at the heart of these commitments—and we will only be able to meet the new goals if we work to transform our food system to be more inclusive, climate-smart, sustainable, efficient, nutrition- and health-driven, and business-friendly.




Nourishing millions: Stories of change in nutrition: Synopsis


Book Description

In recent years, the world has seen unprecedented attention and political commitment to addressing malnutrition. Milestones such as the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, the Lancet Maternal and Child Nutrition Series, and the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) have marked the rapid rise of nutrition on the global policy and research agenda. These developments reverse years of relative neglect for nutrition. Undernutrition is a global challenge with huge social and economic costs. It kills millions of young children annually, stunts growth, erodes child development, reduces the amount of schooling children attain, and increases the likelihood of their being poor as adults, if they survive. Stunting persists through a lifetime and beyond—underweight mothers are more likely to give birth to underweight children, perpetuating undernutrition across generations. Undernutrition reduces global gross domestic product by US$1.4–$2.1 trillion a year—the size of the total economy of Africa south of the Sahara.




Highlights of the IFPRI and FAO partnership


Book Description

For four decades, the rich partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has generated cutting-edge technical knowledge and enhanced expertise in support of food security and improved nutrition for all, and for making agriculture and food systems more inclusive, productive, resilient, and sustainable. Driven by these shared goals, FAO and IFPRI have contributed to a strong evidence base to strengthen the capacity of policy makers in making sound policy decisions. Our work helped create important information resources and networks for food security, strengthen the focus on gender in agriculture, spur strategic public investment in agriculture, promote productive and sustainable rural development, and advocate for enhancing the positive impact of agriculture and food systems on nutrition. This brochure presents highlights and successes of the partnership between FAO and IFPRI.




Agricultural extension: Global status and performance in selected countries


Book Description

Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.




World Water and Food to 2025


Book Description

A thirsty world; Alternative futures for water; Consequences of key policy changes; Implications for the future.




A review of best food safety practices: International experiences and lessons for Bangladesh


Book Description

The goal of this report is to identify best food safety practices that can inform policy makers in Bangladesh and other developing countries by examining and synthesizing experiences in food safety systems and regulation as well as producer and consumer behavior in low, middle, and high income countries. We begin by presenting the general objectives and principles of food safety regulation in countries with mature food safety systems. Then we review government food safety regulatory systems in Denmark and the U.S. to illustrate different approaches to organizing the implementation of food safety regulation. The food safety systems of both of these countries were updated within the past 20 years (Denmark in 1997 and the U.S. in 2011), and as a result the two systems incorporate modern best practices in food safety. The recent changes to U.S. food safety law are described in depth, as an example of a country updating a food safety system that was developed over 80 years ago based on modern principles. We conclude by summarizing the best practices and consider their potential to improve food safety in an emerging economy such as Bangladesh.




Advancing Gender Equality Through Agricultural and Environmental Research


Book Description

"Advancing Gender Equality through Agricultural and Environmental Research: Past, Present, and Future stands to become the new go-to resource on gender in agriculture. Bringing together contributions from more than 60 authors who expertly straddle gender research and agricultural science, it offers important insights for the wider agricultural research and development communities. A comprehensive synthesis of CGIAR gender research to date, it not only illuminates what we know - and what we don't yet know - about the contributions of gender research to development outcomes, but also, and especially, investigates the contribution of agricultural development to gender equality outcomes. The lessons emerging from this synthesis have important implications for work that supports countries to achieve their national development objectives, as well as for our collective approach to meeting global targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals"--




International Agricultural Law and Policy


Book Description

From soil degradation and biodiversity loss to the coexistence of malnutrition and obesity, many of the largest challenges facing humanity today are underpinned by food and agriculture systems. In order to alleviate and resolve them, global governance of food and agriculture needs to be reformed. Unravelling the array of international regulatory instruments, this timely book provides the first systematic analysis of the international law surrounding food systems. International Agricultural Law and Policyprovides a systems-based analysis of the rules that intersect with the physical elements of agriculture against a framework of commonly held norms. The author conducts a comprehensive examination not only of the rules, but also the implementation and broader socioeconomic, scientific and political context. By, exploring and clarifying the relationship between food security and the right to food and sustainability, Johnson closes the gap between the disparate international rules that govern food and agriculture, while exploring the practical implications of these overlapping regimes. This unique book is an invaluable resource for lawyers and social scientists working within food and agriculture systems and their governance and lays the much-needed groundwork for future research. For policy makers in the food and agricultural space, this book provides a wide-ranging and innovative analysis of the global regulatory landscape that influences law and policy processes.




Towards a new generation of policies and investments in agricultural water in the Arab region


Book Description

The Arab region needs a new generation of policies and investments in agricultural water. Agricultural water management has always posed challenges and opportunities in the Arab world. However, unprecedented and accelerating drivers such as climate change, population growth, and land degradation make agricultural water management a more urgent priority than ever before. In addition, as part of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, Arab countries have committed to work towards an ambitious set of development targets, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unless the right policies and investments are put in place, it will be difficult to achieve the SDGs, including ending hunger and providing clean water and sanitation for all. This paper is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Water Management Institute to foster dialogue on agricultural water policies and investments in the context of the FAO led Regional Water Scarcity initiative. The purpose of the paper is to frame the key challenges and opportunities in the sector – including emerging innovations in digital agriculture, water accounting, water supply and wastewater reuse – and to lay out broad strategic directions for action.