Calls to rethink responses to food crises have arisen from recent overlapping shocks to food systems — including the COVID-19 pandemic, increased food prices, conflicts, and natural disasters — and from concerns that crises are becoming more frequent, complex, and protracted. Now is an opportune moment to develop more permanent responses to food crises, guided by strong evidence on the impact of policies, programming, tools, and governance approaches. Drawing on research from IFPRI and colleagues, this report provides a broad set of evidence-based recommendations for better predicting and preparing for crises, addressing crises when they occur, and building equity and the resilience of food systems.

■ Early warning systems can facilitate preemptive, rapid, and context-appropriate responses, provided they are well coordinated and based on frequent monitoring of key indicators and understanding of how structural risks can aggravate shocks to food security.

■ Anticipatory action frameworks, which help prepare and organize humanitarian aid before crises strike, show promise both for mitigating crises and supporting long-term development efforts.

■ Agrifood value chains can support livelihoods and food security during crises when governments maintain a business environment that fosters flexibility and technical and financial innovation, and provide essential infrastructure and targeted assistance for at-risk value chain actors.

■ Social protection systems are essential to reducing the impact of crises; they can build resilience prior to a crisis and facilitate recovery when they are flexible, shock-responsive, and carefully targeted. Integrating social protection with gender and climate goals can further empower women and promote sustainability.

■ Improvements in collecting gender-disaggregated data, particularly amid crises, and tracking progress toward clear gender targets can promote gender equality. Likewise, including women’s voices in policymaking and programming decisions can help ensure that crisis responses improve rather than erode gender equality.

■ Forced migration can create both challenges and opportunities for development. Migrants can provide benefits for both the host and sending communities when policies facilitate their integration into host communities and support those who remain.

■ The resilience of food systems depends critically on good governance; governance determines the ability to implement and sustain effective policies and programming to offset negative shocks, curb incentives for violent conflict, and support the functioning of markets and private sector investments.

■ Recent events have highlighted the need for crisis response funding to be expanded and used more efficiently. Repurposing agricultural support funds and better leveraging private sector funds could bolster investment in long-term resilience.